Striving to Avoid Inferiority and Procrastination among University Students: The Mediating Roles of Stress and Self-Control

Peter-Yee-Lap To, Barbara-Chuen-Yee Lo, Ting-Kin Ng, Bernard-Pak-Ho Wong and Anna-Wai-Man Choi
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Peter-Yee-Lap To: Department of Applied Psychology, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China
Barbara-Chuen-Yee Lo: Department of Applied Psychology, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China
Ting-Kin Ng: Wofoo Joseph Lee Consulting and Counselling Psychology Research Centre, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China
Bernard-Pak-Ho Wong: Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Anna-Wai-Man Choi: Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-12

Abstract: The current study intended to examine whether the relationship between university students’ striving to avoid inferiority (SAI) and procrastination was serially mediated by stress and self-control. The sample consisted of 154 Hong Kong university students. Their levels of striving to avoid inferiority, stress, self-control, and procrastination were measured by the Striving to Avoid Inferiority Scale (SAIS) , the stress subscale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), the Short Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SSRQ), and the General Procrastination Scale (GPS), respectively. The results of structural equation modeling revealed that SAI positively predicted stress, stress negatively predicted self-control, and self-control negatively predicted procrastination. SAI did not directly predict procrastination. The results of bootstrapping analyses supported the hypotheses that the effect of stress on procrastination was mediated by self-control, the effect of SAI on self-control was mediated by stress, and more importantly, the effect of SAI on procrastination was serially mediated by stress and self-control. Further research is suggested to investigate the thoughts and feelings pertinent to procrastination and the actual duration of procrastination among university students.

Keywords: procrastination; striving to avoid inferiority; performance-avoidance goal orientation; stress; self-control (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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