The Relationship between Perfectionism and Procrastination: Examining Trait and Cognitive Conceptualizations, and the Mediating Roles of Fear of Failure and Overgeneralization of Failure
Abstract
The relationship between perfectionism and procrastination has been established in the literature; however, findings regarding the magnitude of this correlation are inconsistent. Some studies found small-to-medium effects between trait-perfectionism and trait-procrastination, while others found large effects between perfectionistic cognitions and procrastinatory cognitions, suggesting that the association may be stronger when assessed from a cognitive perspective. The present study addressed this inconsistency, by exploring this association using both trait and cognitive measures. There was a significant and positive correlation between perfectionism and procrastination, and the largest effect size was observed between perfectionism (trait and cognitive measures) and procrastinatory cognitions, suggesting that perfectionists are not necessarily procrastinating more but are rather more cognitively distressed by their procrastinatory tendencies.
This study also addressed the mediating roles of two variables: fear of failure (FF), and overgeneralization of failure (OGF). While previous research showed that FF is linked to both perfectionism and procrastination, the role of OGF in this association has been unexamined. Findings in this study showed that FF mediated all (trait and cognitive) pathways between perfectionism and procrastination, and OGF mediated almost all pathways. Further, there was a sequential mediation, via FF followed by OGF, for all (but one) pathways between perfectionism and procrastination. This finding suggests that fear of failure predicts the tendency to overgeneralize failures to one’s global sense of self, and this combination of effects drives the association between perfectionism and procrastination.