The Concept Of Procrastination In Psychology
Psychology is a study of human behavior and cognitive operations. By studying particular human behavior or mental performances it could be used to treat mental issues, understand events, and even improve the way of life. Procrastination is common phenomenon when individual postpone their work to a later time. People notice that procrastination is a habit that bring negative consequences. Procrastinators often regret after their action of delaying work. However, this unhealthy habit tends to reoccur every time a new task is given. The rate of procrastination in the today has quadrupled compared to rate 30 years ago. Therefore, procrastination is an important concept studied in psychology in order to improve the lives of people who are struggling from the negative consequences.
To understand procrastination it is crucial to understand the factors that lead to this particular behavior. A well-known theory on the reasons of procrastination is related to “perfectionism”. Many psychologists suggest that people procrastinate due to the fear of failure. From this fear of making mistakes people often put off the task to escape from some of the fear. According to Carol Dweck’s book “Mindset: the new psychology of success”, people with a particular mindset called fixed mindset believes that they are born with what they have and there aren’t any ways to develop. In addition procrastinator often have a closed mind set.
Another factor of procrastination is related to a cognitive bias called the “hot -cold empathy gap”. It is a state of mind where one fails to recognize the influence of instinctive alternation on one’s behavior or attitude. Procrastinators underestimates themselves in the future and tends to pend their tasks later. This happens especially when the deadlines of tasks are further away. There are still other various factors that is influencing procrastination level. Many people struggle to overcome their habit of procrastination. However, the habit of procrastination is known to be extremely difficult to change. Statistics show that 85%-95% of students procrastinates.
In other words, procrastination starts from a young age. It is always hard to change bad habits especially when one get older. It is important to study the procrastination of young adults since procrastination often starts from the age of adolescent (10-19 year old) and may continue through one’s life time. This is because it is a step in life time where one go through the most changes including physical and mental. However, the result of procrastination always leads to the same result: anxiety.
Anxiety is type of of emotion that has a strong correlation with the procrastination. The feeling of anxiety is experienced throughout the process of procrastination. Anxiety is considered a mental disorder that can lead to other negative consequences such as depression and serious fatigue. The more frequently one procrastinates the higher the anxiety level. Delaying task does not actually mean the anxiety or stress goes away. Procrastination is only a short term mood repair to escape from the task. In the back of the mind the anxiety builds up as one gets closer to the deadline.
