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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Year : 2022  |  Volume : 20  |  Issue : 3  |  Page : 263-266

Relationship between academic procrastination and self-esteem among dental students in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh: A cross-sectional study


Department of Public Health Dentistry, Narayana Dental College, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, India

Date of Submission25-Mar-2021
Date of Decision17-Mar-2022
Date of Acceptance06-Jun-2022
Date of Web Publication12-Sep-2022

Correspondence Address:
M Snehitha
Department of Public Health Dentistry, Narayana Dental College, Nellore - 524 003, Andhra Pradesh
India
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Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/jiaphd.jiaphd_49_21

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  Abstract 


Background: Procrastination is an extremely prevalent phenomenon and pernicious form of self-regulatory failure. Self-esteem is used to describe peoples' beliefs and feelings about their overall self-worth. Procrastinators have found to carry a heavy cost due to the inability to abide by these values, thereby affecting all domains of life. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between academic procrastination and self-esteem among dental students in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from February to March 2021. The sample consisted of 505 dental students. Data were collected through a questionnaire using the Tuckman Academic Procrastination Scale and Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale. Data collected were analyzed using SPSS software version 14.0. Independent Student's t-test and Pearson's correlation test were performed. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The results indicated that a weak positive correlation (r = 0.02) existed between academic procrastination scores and self-esteem scores. There was a significant difference in mean academic procrastination scores and self-esteem scores among undergraduates and postgraduates. Undergraduates reported higher self-esteem (25.7 ± 1.93) and lower academic procrastination (25.2 ± 1.70) which were found to be statistically significant. Conclusion: The current study found that students who procrastinate more have comparatively lower self-esteem and those with high self-esteem procrastinate less.

Keywords: Dental students, procrastination, self-esteem


How to cite this article:
Snehitha M, Vuyyuru CR, Kumar R V, Gomasani S, Prathyusha V. Relationship between academic procrastination and self-esteem among dental students in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh: A cross-sectional study. J Indian Assoc Public Health Dent 2022;20:263-6

How to cite this URL:
Snehitha M, Vuyyuru CR, Kumar R V, Gomasani S, Prathyusha V. Relationship between academic procrastination and self-esteem among dental students in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh: A cross-sectional study. J Indian Assoc Public Health Dent [serial online] 2022 [cited 2024 Mar 28];20:263-6. Available from: https://journals.lww.com/aphd/pages/default.aspx/text.asp?2022/20/3/263/355891




  Introduction Top


Procrastination is defined as a selfhandicapping behavior that occurs when people delay completing a job they expect to complete, potentially leading to lost output, poor performance, and increased stress.[1]

Academic procrastination was defined as leaving academic tasks, such as preparing for exams and doing homework, to the last minute and feeling discomfort out of this.[2],[3] It is described as intentionally delaying one's tasks on academic concerns in fear of making blunders,[4] delaying a task that needs to be completed and bad time management.[5],[6] Some authors opined that “lack of commitment, lack of guidance and encouragement, inappropriate time management skills, emotional stress, social problems, overconfidence, and illness commonly appeared in students” educational life leading to procrastination.[7],[8]

Personality refers to an individual's organized pattern of behavioral characteristics. There are many factors related to the development of personality. One such factor is self-esteem, which reflects a person's overall emotional evaluation about their self-worthiness to get success in life.[9] Procrastination considerably wastes significant time if there is something supposed to be performed.[10] Individuals who have self-efficacy for self-regulated learning, they know how to manage their learning process by defining applicable goals for themselves and applying suitable strategies to achieve their goals; whereas, a lack of self-regulated learning leads to low persistence in pursuing the task and results in procrastination.[11] Self-esteem helps people to make a better evaluation of themselves and it lay a foundation for the development of personality.[12] Those who procrastinate have found to carry a heavy cost due to the inability to abide by these values, thereby affecting all domains of life.[13] Low selfesteem is a crucial constituent of procrastination and a person who procrastinates starts feeling weak and miserable; his self-confidence suffers, and future seems dark.[14]

However, there is a scarcity of literature on the relationship between academic procrastination and selfesteem in dental students in India. Hence, the study was conducted with the aim to assess the relationship between academic procrastination and selfesteem among dental students in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh.


  Materials and Methods Top


Ethics

Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the institutional review board (Reference number IEC/NDCH/2020/P-50).

Study design

A descriptive cross-sectional epidemiological study was undertaken to assess the relationship between academic procrastination and self-esteem among dental students in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. The study population included dental students in Nellore who were present during the study period. It was conducted for a period of 1 month from February 2021 to March 2021. Two questionnaires – Tuckman Procrastination Scale and Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale were used in the study.[15],[16] The first section consisted of questions related to age, sex, and qualification. The second section consisted of 16 questions related to procrastination. Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale consisted of 10 questions related to self-esteem.

Dental students were approached personally by the investigator and the purpose of the study was explained to them. The questionnaire was distributed to them and was assured of the confidentiality of their responses and requested to give appropriate answers. The filled questionnaire was collected back the same day. Multiple visits were made to different academic year groups to get the proformas filled. A total of 505 proformas were distributed and collected back.

Inclusion criteria

All the dental students who agreed to participate in the study, who gave informed consent and who were present during the period of study were included in the study.

Exclusion criteria

Dental students who were not present during the study period and were not willing to participate were excluded from the study.

Statistical analysis

Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software program version 22. Data were analyzed using independent Student's t-test and Pearson's correlation test. The level of statistical significance was set at P < 0.05.


  Results Top


Out of a total of 505 dental students, 72.8% were females and 27.1% were males, 51.6% were in the age range of 18-22 years and 48.3% with age >23. About 77.8% were bachelor of dental surgery (BDS) and 22.2% were master of dental surgery (MDS) students [Table 1].
Table 1: Descriptive characteristics of the study

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The gender-wise mean academic procrastination scores among males and females were 40.35 ± 8.4 and 40.03 ± 7.0, respectively, and the difference was not statistically significant with P = 0.69 [Table 2].
Table 2: Gender-wise comparison of procrastination scores

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The gender-wise mean self-esteem score was higher among males (25.7 ± 1.95) compared to females (25.5 ± 1.87), but this difference was not statistically significant [Table 3].
Table 3: Gender-wise comparison of self-esteem scores

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The mean academic procrastination scores among BDS and MDS students were 39.86 ± 7.51 and 40.98 ± 6.99, respectively, and this was found to be statistically significant (P = 0.04). The mean self-esteem scores among BDS and MDS students were 25.20 ± 1.93 and 25.77 ± 1.70, respectively, and this was found to be highly significant (P = 0.005) [Table 4].
Table 4: Comparison of mean academic procrastination scores and mean self-esteem scores

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Academic procrastination and selfesteem scores among dental students had shown a weak positive correlation (r = 0.02). Hence, academic procrastination scores increase with selfesteem scores, that is, when selfesteem increases academic procrastination decreases [Table 5].
Table 5: Relationship between procrastination and self-esteem scores

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  Discussion Top


Procrastination is a current topic of interest across multiple fields from finance to health care. The dental students are under continuous stress to achieve the perfect standards expected by the trainers. The lack of time management can lead to procrastination of academic and clinical duties that ultimately could affect their academic performance.[17] Dental students are no exception for procrastination because they frequently must maintain equilibrium in their academic, preclinical, and clinical responsibilities.[18] Previous reports on procrastination have found it to be widespread among college students, often adversely affecting their academic performance.

Steel[1] found in his research that procrastination behavior differs with respect to gender and that the level of procrastination behavior for males is greater than that of females. It was found that the Tuckman Procrastination Scores were higher in males, compared to females these results were in accordance with Solomon and Rothblum et al.[2] Contrary results were found in studies done by Senecal et al.,[4] Ozer et al.,[19] Naveed and Ishtiaq,[20] and Babu et al.[13]

When gender-wise comparison of mean self-esteem scores was evaluated, our study proved that there was no statistically significant difference among the study individuals. This was in accordance with previous studies done by Marcic and Grum[21] and Polce-Lynch et al.[22] This could be possible because females and males are getting the same significance in dental course and there is no gender discrimination. In contrast, Gohil[23] had found that females had higher levels of self-esteem than males which were statistically significant. Whereas Klingsieck[24] reported that females may experience lower self-esteem due to the cultural emphasis on their physical appearance, which results in their discontent about their appearance.

The mean scores of academic procrastination and self-esteem were compared among BDS and MDS students and it was found to be statistically significant. MDS students showed lower academic procrastination than BDS students because the former becomes more experienced and mature in both professional and personal life, and they are able to grow out of their procrastination habits. These findings were in accordance with the study conducted by Özer[25] who reported that undergraduate students showed higher procrastination than postgraduate students. The mean self-esteem score was also higher in MDS students compared to BDS students. The reason for postgraduates showing higher self-esteem may be because as a person matures his/her ability to cope up with situation improves and postgraduates will be more experienced in handling various situations in dentistry.

The main aim of this study was to explore the association between academic procrastination and self-esteem in dental students. A weak positive correlation was found between academic procrastination scores and self-esteem scores in our study, that is when academic procrastination increases self-esteem decreases. There is a high probability of persons engaging in procrastination if they view their complete selves in a negative or unfavorable manner. Higher self-esteem may translate into greater confidence in one's ability to successfully complete the tasks. The current results reflect the findings of the previous study conducted by Saleem and Rafique[10] on university students.

Procrastination has been consistently reported to exert an adverse influence on the academic performance of students. The results from our study substantiate this point, as academic procrastination showed an inverse relationship with self-esteem.


  Conclusion Top


There is a weak positive correlation between academic procrastination and self-esteem among dental students. Students with high self-esteem procrastinate less, whereas those who procrastinate more have comparatively lower self-esteem.

Limitations

The self-reported questionnaire contained questions regarding the academic procrastination and self-esteem of the students, which could have led to a social desirability bias. The number of dental students who participated in the study was limited, due to data collection constraints and for more valid and reliable conclusion, the study needs to be replicated with a larger sample size.

Recommendations

  • By measuring, classifying, and evaluating the prevalence of academic procrastination, the reasons dental students in India procrastinate may be determined, and strategies could be developed to counter such negative behavior
  • Students could be educated in organized team efforts about efficient time management and how to improve their organizational skills to reduce their tendency to procrastinate
  • Furthermore, administering questionnaires on procrastination to dental students at the onset of their dental school training would facilitate the identification of potential procrastinators.


Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.



 
  References Top

1.
Steel P. The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. Psychol Bull 2007;133:65-94.  Back to cited text no. 1
    
2.
Solomon LJ, Rothblum ED. Academic procrastination: Frequency and cognitive-behavioral correlates. J Couns Psychol 1984;31:503.  Back to cited text no. 2
    
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Milgram NA, Batori G, Mowrer D. Correlates of academic procrastination. J Sch Psychol 1993;31:487-500.  Back to cited text no. 3
    
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Senecal C, Koestner R, Vallerand RJ. Self-regulation and academic procrastination. J Soc Psychol 1995;135:607-19.  Back to cited text no. 4
    
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Schouwenburg HC, Lay CH. Trait procrastination and the big-five factors of personality. Pers Individ Dif 1995;18:481-90.  Back to cited text no. 5
    
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Milgram N, Marshevsky S, Sadeh C. Correlates of academic procrastination: Discomfort, task aversiveness, and task capability. J Psychol 1995;129:145-55.  Back to cited text no. 6
    
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Ellis A, Knaus WJ. Overcoming Procrastination. New York: New American Library, Institute for Rational Living; 1977. p. 152-67.  Back to cited text no. 7
    
8.
Hussain I, Sultan S. Analysis of procrastination among university students. Procedia Soc Behav Sci 2010;5:1897-904.  Back to cited text no. 8
    
9.
Cast AD, Burke PJ. A theory of self-esteem. Soc Forces 2002;80:1041-68.  Back to cited text no. 9
    
10.
Saleem M, Rafique R. Procrastination and self-esteem among university students. Pak J Soc Clin Psychol 2012;9.  Back to cited text no. 10
    
11.
Zimmerman BJ. Attaining self-regulation: A social cognitive perspective. In: Handbook of Self-Regulation. Boston, Massachusetts: Da Capo Lifelong Books; 2000. p. 13-39.  Back to cited text no. 11
    
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Vijay M, Kadhiravan S. Influence of personality and self-esteem on the academic procrastination among university students. Int J Indian Psychol 2016;4:18-23.  Back to cited text no. 12
    
13.
Babu P, Chandra KM, Vanishree MK, Amritha N. Relationship between academic procrastination and self-esteem among dental students in Bengaluru City. J Indian Assoc Public Health Dent 2019;17:146.  Back to cited text no. 13
  [Full text]  
14.
Burka J, Yuen LM. Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About It Now. Princeton, New Jersey: Da Capo Lifelong Books; 2007.  Back to cited text no. 14
    
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Tuckman BW. The development and concurrent validity of the procrastination scale. Educ Psychol Meas 1991;51:473-80.  Back to cited text no. 15
    
16.
Rosenberg M. The measurement of self-esteem. In: Society and the Adolescent Self-Image. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press; 2015. p. 16-36.  Back to cited text no. 16
    
17.
Shaik R, Reddy DS, Praveen NS, Nemalladine SE, Reddy SP, Shaik S. The level of procrastination among dental post graduate students in Andhra Pradesh, India. Int J Curr Res 2017;9:63468-73.  Back to cited text no. 17
    
18.
Madhan B, Kumar CS, Naik ES, Panda S, Gayathri H, Barik AK. Trait procrastination among dental students in India and its influence on academic performance. J Dent Educ 2012;76:1393-8.  Back to cited text no. 18
    
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Ozer BU, Demir A, Ferrari JR. Exploring academic procrastination among Turkish students: Possible gender differences in prevalence and reasons. J Soc Psychol 2009;149:241-57.  Back to cited text no. 19
    
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Naveed TA, Ishtiaq SA. Relationship between procrastination & self esteem among male & female university students. Eur Acad Res 2015;3:2459-70.  Back to cited text no. 20
    
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Marcic R, Grum D. Differences in self-concept and self-esteem components. Stud Psychol 2011;53:373-85.  Back to cited text no. 21
    
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Polce-Lynch M, Myers BJ, Kliewer W, Kilmartin C. Adolescent self-esteem and gender: Exploring relations to sexual harassment, body image, media influence, and emotional expression. J Youth Adolesc 2001;30:225-44.  Back to cited text no. 22
    
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Gohil E. Procrastination and self-esteem – A gender based study. Glob J Interdiscip Soc Sci 2014;3:91-5.  Back to cited text no. 23
    
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Klingsieck KB. Procrastination in different life-domains: Is procrastination domain specific? Curr Psychol 2013;32:175-85.  Back to cited text no. 24
    
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Özer BU. A cross sectional study on procrastination: Who procrastinate more. Int Conf Educ Res Innov 2011;18:34-7.  Back to cited text no. 25
    



 
 
    Tables

  [Table 1], [Table 2], [Table 3], [Table 4], [Table 5]



 

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