Procrastination and Learned-Helplessness among University Students: The Mediation Effect of Internal Locus of Control

Abstract

Introduction. Previous studies indicated that more than 70% university students committed academic procrastination, and one of the most prominent factors is learned helplessness, the perception that one is incapable of finishing tasks well. It was also hypothesized that when students believe that they are in control of their own events, their learned helplessness will not significantly predict their academic procrastination. This current study aims to test the hypothesis whether internal locus of control mediates the relationship between learned helplessness and academic procrastination among university students. Method.A total of 240 university students were randomly recruited to participate in this current study. Duttweiller's Internal Control Scale was utilized to measure the internal locus of control, Pure Procrastination Scale (adapted for academic setting) was employed to measure the academic procrastination level and Learned Helplessness Scale was used to measure the level of learned helplessness among the participants. Multiple regression with PROCESS macros was employed to analyze the data.Results. Results indicated that learned helplessness signifcantly predicted internal locus of control, and that internal locus of control was a significant predictor of academic procrastination. These results support the mediational hypothesis. Learned helplessness was no longer a significant predictor of academic procrastination after controlling for the internal locus of control, consistent with full mediation.Approximately 21% of the variance in academic procrastination can be explained by the predictors.Indirect coefficient was significant. Learned helplessness was associated with approximately .15 points higher academic procrastination scores as mediated by internal locus of control Discussion and Conclusion. Internal locus of control fully mediates the influence of learned helplessness on academic procrastination. In other words, when students believe that they are in control of their events, the less likely they will procrastinate doing their tasks due to helplessness they have learned. Findings of this study suggested that procrastination in academic setting occurred due to the perception of helplessness that have been learned over time; nevertheless, the influence will not be that deteriorating towards the students when the they believe that they are responsible and in control of their events.

In everlasting fight against academic procrastination: The roles of classroom engagement and internal locus of control

“…Findings of this study enrich the previous studies in the similar context of Malaysian educational settings. When Prihadi et al [13] reported the mediation role of ILOC on the link between learned helplessness and academic procrastination, there was still a question whether ILOC is a major significant factor that decrease academic procrastination, up to an extent where it can alter the influence of learned helplessness. This current study indicates that ILOC, despite its significant prediction, is also mediated by classroom engagement; in other words, students with high internal locus of control still need to be engaged in their classroom environment in order to reduce their procrastination behaviour.…”

“…It is worth to note that self-esteem was also reported as a strong predictor of procrastination [8]. In line with that, another study in Malaysian context reported that when students believe that they are in control of their events (possess high level of internal locus of control), the less likely they will procrastinate doing their tasks although they believe that they are incapable of finishing the task properly [13]. Other than that, external factors such as the existence of a well-structured academic goal predicts the decrease of academic procrastination [2] and a recent study done in a mathematics class (8 th and 10 th grade students) showed that intrinsic motivation and effort are predicted by goal structures that aim to promote autonomy and personal achievement [18]; whereby students tend to cope better with their academic related tasks when they set goals [19].…”

“…I am continually saying I'll do it tomorrow". Items 3,4,6,8,11,13,14,15,18,and 20 were reverse scored items, whereby higher scores for these items indicated less academic procrastination. The reverse scored items were such as "3.…”

“…It has been reported that internal factors contributed to procrastination behaviour [5] such as learned helplessness [7], self-esteem [8], self-efficacy [9,10], negative self-appraisals on personal responsibility and ability in completing [11], as well as locus of control [6,[12][13][14]. Interrelationship among these internal factors predicts academic procrastination tendency among students; nevertheless, it is imperative to study factors that educators can alter in order to reduce the tendency of academic procrastination.…”

Adjustment and acceptance beliefs in achievement settings: Implications for student wellbeing

“…This could be conveying students’ accommodation skills to deal with a negative outcome, such as when students are easily accepting of a poor grade but are able to reflect on how they can learn or benefit from the outcome. This may be valuable given the toxic role of helplessness in achievement settings that can lead to academic procrastination and lower performance in domain-specific courses (Krejtz & Nezlek, 2016 ; Prihadi et al, 2018 ), but also given the pressures and unpredictability experienced by emerging adults during this critical time point in development (Arnett, 2000 ). These findings may also point to the relevance of targeting or promoting these SC beliefs for individuals who may be susceptible to helplessness.…”