Academic Hardiness as a Moderator between Evaluative Concerns Perfectionism and Academic Procrastination in Students

Abstract

Academic procrastination is a common phenomenon in students that can have a negative impact on effective learning, academic achievement, self-esteem, and quality of life. This study examined the associations among the two dimensions of perfectionism (personal standards perfectionism and evaluative concerns perfectionism), academic hardiness, and academic procrastination, as well as the moderating role of academic hardiness in the relationship between the two dimensions of perfectionism and academic procrastination. Participants of this study included 410 high school students in grades 9 to 12 from six schools in Tehran, Iran who completed the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised, the Academic Hardiness Scale, and the Procrastination Assessment Scale. The results indicated that personal standards perfectionism and academic hardiness had negative relationships with academic procrastination, whereas evaluative concerns perfectionism had a positive relationship with academic procrastination. Interaction-moderation analysis demonstrated that academic hardiness only played a buffering role in the relationship between evaluative concerns perfectionism and academic procrastination. The results of this study elucidate the experience of academic procrastination in students and highlight the role of academic hardiness and personal standards perfectionism. Implications for educators and psychologists are discussed.

Keywords:

• Academic hardiness
• academic procrastination
• evaluative concerns perfectionism
• personal standards perfectionism
• students

Acknowledgment

We would like to show our great appreciation to the staff and participants at the schools for their support and assistance in data collection.

Contributions

Abbas Abdollahi, Neda Maleki Farab, and Sana Panahipour collected the data and conducted the primary statistical analyses and wrote the manuscript. Kelly A. Allen reviewed the paper and provided the comments and suggestions to improve the manuscript.

Funding

There was no external funding for this study.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Abbas Abdollahi

Abbas Abdollahi is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Counseling, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran. He has published many journal articles in the areas of the resilience factors (e.g. hardiness and emotional intelligence) in several settings.

Neda Maleki Farab

Neda Maleki Farab is a PHD in educational psychology at Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran. Her research interests include the academic procrastination, academic hardiness, and perfectionism.

Sana Panahipour

Sana Panahipour is a Master in educational psychology at Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran. Her research interests include the academic procrastination, academic hardiness, and perfectionism.

Kelly A. Allen

Kelly Allen is an educational and developmental psychologist, private practitioner, supervisor and academic. Her research interests are concerned with school belonging and social connectedness.