Characteristics of Procrastination among Students in an Academic Context: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

This research aimed to examine the experiences of students about the phenomenon of procrastination, investigating the following questions: Are students familiar with this phenomenon and do they report forms of behavior that can be characterized as procrastination? What are the reasons for such behavior? How does procrastination affect their emotions? Does procrastination negatively affect their psychophysical health? And finally, how do they deal with the negative consequences of procrastination? The study included 35 students from the Faculty of Teaching, University "Džemal Bijedić" in Mostar. Qualitative research was carried out to obtain answers to the questions posed. Through focus groups with students, the following topics were brought up to date: sources of procrastination, the consequences of such behavior on the psychophysical health of students, and the adaptation of students to such behavior. The results showed that students tend to procrastinate. The sources of procrastination were mainly the lack of motivation for work, poor organization of time, preoccupation with other, more interesting things, fatigue, tasks that were too easy, as well as the flexibility of professors to extend the deadlines for the completion of the tasks. Also, students reported that such behavior negatively affected their psychophysical health, however, despite this, they are not motivated to change it.