Exploring academic procrastination: Perceptions, self-regulation, and consequences

Abstract

The current study examined how COVID-19 impacted urban college students’ engagement in their schoolwork and whether John Henryism mediated the relationship among demographic variables and engagement. Results demonstrated that John Henryism is a significant predictor of all three engagement outcomes (absorption, dedication, and vigor) and mediated the relationship between historically underrepresented students (Black and Latinx) and their vigor for engaging in schoolwork. Three themes emerged from the qualitative analysis: intrapersonal, interpersonal, and contextual challenges. This study adds another dimension to the coping strategies urban college students are using to stay engaged in their schoolwork during the pandemic.

John Henryism, psychological labor, and control-value theory: Race, ethnicity, and situational coping for student success

“…Again, we learned that identifying as a first-generation student (predominantly Black and Latinx) led to greater levels of John Henryism and subsequent aspects of the CVT process, i.e., value/ control and subsequent positive emotions. This confirmed the results of other studies (see Gaydosh et al, 2018;Brody et al, 2020;Torsney et al, 2022), demonstrating that John Henryism may be an important precursor to engagement and academic success for underrepresented students, especially minorities of color, who may have more competing goals (Neely et al, 2009), such as partor full-time job, than continuing generation White students. This study showed that a student's identity and high-effort coping (i.e., John Henryism) seamlessly integrated into the CVT/momentary engagement system.…”

“…We posit that John Henryism, as a coping strategy in a learning environment in which race and ethnicity influence context and vice-versa, activates control and value. Specifically, we are using James (1994James ( , 2019 hypothesis that John Henryism is a critical precursor to engagement and subsequent action for underrepresented minorities in contexts where they may perceive environmental stress (Torsney et al, 2022). Therefore, we believe that as control and value are activated by John Henryism, increases in positive activating emotions (e.g., excitement or activity) and decreases in negative activating emotions (e.g., irritation or anxiety) can be expected.…”

“…This study will assess the relationships among variables in the model to explore whether John Henryism, i.e., effortful, active coping underpinning high levels of value and control (James, 1994(James, , 2019, will spark the motivational process described by CVT (Pekrun, 2006), leading to deeper cognitive engagement during a school-based task (see Figure 1). Based on our prior research (Torsney et al, 2022) and the theoretical underpinning of John Henryism as a precursor for engagement, we hypothesize that John Henryism will activate the CVT and momentary engagement system. That is, John Henryism will mediate relationships among specific demographics by increasing control (Brody et al, 2020;Patall et al, 2022) and value, increasing positive emotions and lowering negative emotions (Gaydosh et al, 2018;Robinson and Thomas Tobin, 2021), and increasing cognitive engagement (Torsney et al, 2022).…”

“…Based on our prior research (Torsney et al, 2022) and the theoretical underpinning of John Henryism as a precursor for engagement, we hypothesize that John Henryism will activate the CVT and momentary engagement system. That is, John Henryism will mediate relationships among specific demographics by increasing control (Brody et al, 2020;Patall et al, 2022) and value, increasing positive emotions and lowering negative emotions (Gaydosh et al, 2018;Robinson and Thomas Tobin, 2021), and increasing cognitive engagement (Torsney et al, 2022).…”

The Myth and Danger of Resilience: How Reckoning With Systemic Oppression Has Forced Us to Reconsider Resilience as a Construct

“…As we have discussed, in the interim John Henryism is not entirely maladaptive. For example, Torsney et al (2022) demonstrated that higher levels of John Henryism-especially for historically underrepresented racially minoritized students-are adaptive when it comes to engagement in schoolwork during the COVID-19 pandemic. In other words, John Henryism was a protective factor for keeping some of the most vulnerable students engaged in their schoolwork during an incredibly challenging time.…”