The role of personality in motivational regulation and academic procrastination

Figures & data

Table 1. Means, standard deviations, and correlations between the Big Five personality traits, motivational regulation strategies and academic procrastination (n = 274).

Scale, variables (number of items)	1.	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.	7.	8.	9.	10.	11.	12.	13.	14.	15.
1. IPIP extraversion (10)	(.86)	.05	.02	.21**	.31**	.18**	.28**	.16*	.09	−.06	.10	.12*	.19**	.20**	−.08
2. IPIP agreeableness (10)		(.83)	.37**	−.11	.15*	.19**	.20**	.26**	.26**	.03	.36**	.29**	.29**	.35**	−.14*
3. IPIP conscientiousness (10)		–	(.81)	.19**	.09	.09	.09	.26**	.17**	−.08	.30**	.12	.25**	.22**	−.46**
4. IPIP emotional stability (10)			–	(.87)	.10	−.05	.04	−.06	−.21**	−.27**	−.01	−.14*	−.05	−.15*	−.11
5. IPIP intellect (10)			–	–	(.81)	.21**	.34**	.21**	.03	−.02	.14*	.16**	.22**	.24**	−.14*
6. MRQ enhancement of situational interest (5)				–	–	(.86)	.58**	.46**	.31**	.17**	.21**	.36**	.40**	.67**	−.11
7. MRQ enhancement of personal significance (3)				–	–	–	(.79)	.42**	.27**	.11	.15*	.24**	.35**	.59**	−.12
8. MRQ mastery self-talk (4)				–	–	–	–	(.81)	.61**	.28**	.43**	.46**	.58**	.81**	−.25**
9. MRQ performance-approach self-talk (5)				–	–	–	–	–	(.86)	.37**	.35**	.34**	.44**	.71**	−.15*
10. MRQ performance-avoidance self-talk (3)				–	–	–	–	–	–	(.82)	.11	.15*	.14*	.47**	.01
11. MRQ environmental control (3)				–	–	–	–	–	–	–	(.66)	.41**	.43**	.57**	−.32**
12. MRQ self-consequating (4)				–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	(.85)	.50**	.66**	−.17**
13. MRQ proximal goal setting (3)				–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	(.70)	.73**	−.27**
14. MRQ overall use of MRS (30)				–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	(.92)	−.26**
15. Academic procrastination (3)				–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	(.96)
Mean	3.37	3.89	3.60	3.23	3.62	2.82	3.43	3.19	3.45	2.34	3.55	3.77	3.53	3.25	3.26
SD	.66	.55	.61	.68	.54	.84	.81	.82	.84	.93	.74	.82	.77	.55	1.09
Range	1.5−4.9	1.6−5	1.6−4.8	1.5−5	2.2−5	1−4.8	1−5	1−5	1−5	1−5	1.33−5	1−5	1−5	1.40−4.70	1−5
Skewness	−.23	−1.03	−.59	.21	−.03	−.09	−.18	−.12	−.36	.54	−.15	−.62	−.30	−.31	−.14
Kurtosis	−.19	1.93	.16	−.04	−.27	−.47	−.29	−.13	−.18	−.12	−.21	.42	.06	.85	−.72

Note. IPIP = International Personality Item Pool 50; MRQ = Motivational Regulation Questionnaire. Internal reliability coefficients (α) appear in parentheses along the main diagonal. *p < .05, **p < .01 (two-tailed tests). Maximal range of response scale: 1–5.

Table 2. Multiple regression analyses with the Big Five traits regressed on each of the eight motivational regulation strategies (n = 274).

Factor: Motivational regulation strategy	Predictor	β	R²	Adjusted R²
Enhancement of situational interest	Extraversion	.15*
	Agreeableness	.13*	.09**	.08**
	Intellect	.15*
Enhancement of personal significance	Extraversion	.20**
	Agreeableness	.15*	.18**	.16**
	Intellect	.26**
Mastery self-talk	Extraversion	.13*
	Agreeableness	.13*	.15**	.13**
	Conscientiousness	.22**
	Emotional stability	−.13*
	Intellect	.15*
Performance-approach self-talk	Extraversion	.14*
	Agreeableness	.17**	.13**	.12**
	Conscientiousness	.15*
	Emotional stability	−.25**
Performance-avoidance self-talk	Emotional stability	−.26**	.07**	.06**
Environmental control	Agreeableness	.26**	.17**	.16**
	Conscientiousness	.20**
Self-consequating	Agreeableness	.23**	.13**	.11**
	Emotional stability	−.16**
Proximal goal setting	Extraversion	.16**
	Agreeableness	.17**	.16**	.15**
	Conscientiousness	.19**
	Intellect	.13*
Total use of motivational strategies	Extraversion	.18**
	Agreeableness	.24**	.22**	.21**
	Conscientiousness	.15*
	Emotional stability	−.21**
	Intellect	.16**

Note. *p < .05, **p < .01. Nonsignificant beta coefficients are not shown for the sake of simplicity.

Table 3. Results of the hierarchical regression analysis of academic procrastination (n = 274).

	Step1	Step2
Step 1: Main effect of the Big Five personality traits
Extraversion	−0.04	−0.01
Agreeableness	0.05	0.12
Conscientiousness	−0.47**	−0.41**
Emotional stability	0.00	−0.02
Intellect	−0.09	−0.06
Step 2: Main effects of motivational regulation strategies
Enhancement of situational interest	–	0.02
Enhancement of personal significance	–	−0.02
Mastery self-talk	–	−0.04
Performance-approach self-talk	–	0.02
Performance-avoidance self-talk	–	0.01
Environmental control	–	−0.18**
Self-consequating	–	−0.02
Proximal goal setting	–	−0.09
ΔR^2	0.23**	0.05*
Adjusted R^2	0.21**	0.24*

Note. The standardised regression coefficients are presented. *p < .05, **p < .01

Table 4. Mediation analyses: summary of total, direct, and indirect effects in the relationship between the Big Five traits and academic procrastination as criteria (n = 274).

Predictors	Extraversion		Agreeableness		Conscientiousness		Emotional Stability		Intellect
	Effect	SE	Effect	SE	Effect	SE	Effect	SE	Effect	SE
Total effect	−0.04	0.03	−0.08*	0.04	−0.25*	0.03	−0.05	0.03	−0.08*	0.04
Direct effect	−0.01	0.03	−0.00	0.04	−0.20*	0.03	−0.05	0.03	−0.04	0.04
Indirect effect
Total	−0.03*	0.02	−0.08*	0.02	−0.04*	0.01	−0.00	0.02	−0.05*	0.02
Enhancement of situational interest	0.00	0.01	0.00	0.01	0.00	0.00	−0.00	0.00	0.00	0.01
Enhancement of personal significance	−0.00	0.01	−0.00	0.01	−0.00	0.00	−0.00	0.00	−0.00	0.02
Mastery self-talk	−0.01	0.01	−0.02	0.02	−0.01	0.01	0.00	0.01	−0.02	0.01
Performance-approach self-talk	0.00	0.00	0.01	0.01	0.00	0.01	−0.00	0.01	0.00	0.00
Performance-avoidance self-talk	−0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	−0.00	0.00	−0.01	0.01	−0.00	0.00
Environmental control	−0.01	0.01	−0.05*	0.02	−0.03*	−0.01	0.00	0.01	−0.02*	0.01
Self-consequating	0.00	0.01	0.00	0.01	−0.00	0.00	−0.00	0.01	0.00	0.01
Proximal goal setting	−0.01	0.01	−0.02	0.02	−0.01	0.01	0.00	0.00	−0.02	0.01
	R^2 = 0.14**F(9, 264) = 4.69, p < .01		R^2 = 0.14**F(9, 264) = 4.68, p < .01		R^2 = 0.26**F(9, 264) = 10.34, p < .01		R^2 = 0.15**F(9, 264) = 5.11, p < .01		R^2 = 0.14**F(9, 264) = 4.80, p < .01

Note. SE - Standard Error. *p < .05, **p < .01. R² refers to the model with a specific Big Five trait and eight motivational regulation strategies entered as predictors, and academic procrastination as a criterion.