Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Yazd, Yazd, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran.

Abstract

The present study was conducted with the aim of analyzing the determinants of decisional procrastination among students and evaluating a structural equation model, in which self-regulation in concentration mediates the relationship between metacognitive beliefs about procrastination and decisional procrastination. Based on Cochran's formula, 391 students from three courses of undergraduate, master, and doctoral studies who were studying at Yazd University in the academic year of 2021-2022 were selected by cluster random method and completed the metacognitive beliefs about procrastination questionnaire (Fernie et al, 2009), the procrastination scale of the Melbourne decision-making questionnaire (Mann et al, 1997) and the self-regulation in concentration scale of the learning and study strategies questionnaire (Weinstein & Palmer, 2002). Data analysis was done using structural equation modeling and the hypothesized model was largely confirmed. The results of structural equation modeling showed that: positive and negative metacognitive beliefs about procrastination have a negative effect on self-regulation in concentration. Also, self-regulation in concentration plays a mediating role in the relationship between positive and negative metacognitive beliefs about procrastination and decisional procrastination. These findings provided a basis for examining decisional procrastination as an obstacle to academic success and emphasized the vital role of self-regulated learning strategies in predicting the tendency to delay in decision-making situations.

Keywords