A Historical Definition for The Meaning of Procrastination - Does It Really Matt

Posted by Hosanna on February 27th, 2021

The History of Procrastination

People interested in the history of procrastination might look for books on the subject. In particular there are some to claim they show a complete history. Interestingly some of these books are not recommended for reading. The reason being is that investigation revealed that some of these books were never actually written. In some cases it was actually an elaborate and ironic joke (a book about procrastination that was never completed).

The first ever recorded historical analysis on procrastination was thought to be written in 1992. The author argues that societies that are technically advanced need numerous commitments and deadlines, which in turn gives birth to procrastination. Consequently, agrarian societies don't figure in the equation.

In another book written in 1995 a similar analysis was taken. The author argued that procrastination has been there throughout history. It only began to acquire negative connotations with the advent of the industrial revolution. Before then, procrastination was deemed neutrally. It's neither bad nor good.

All things considered, there may be some grain of truth to the idea that procrastination is a modern malady. There has been self -reports of procrastination that have indicated that it may be on the rise. Look around it is not too hard to see that in our modern society.

Many historical references have pointed out that views about procrastination have been constant throughout the ages. It is and has long been a common problem.

From the advent of the industrial revolution, procrastination has been defined as "one of the general weaknesses, which, in spite of the instruction of moralists, and the remonstrances of reason, prevail to a greater or less degree in every mind."

Procrastination: A Personality Trait?

Procrastination as a character trait is subject to an empirical question: Does the level of procrastination demonstrate consistency across time and situation?

The adequate research that addressed this issue suggests that procrastination has enough cross-temporal and situational strength. There seems to be a biological or genetic component to procrastination.

A study in 2003 researched and asked 118 identical and 93 fraternal male twins raised in the same family to point out the degree to which they were procrastinators. Their findings show that the intraclass correlations were.13 for the fraternal twins and.24 for identical twins. The findings suggest that approximately 22% of the variance on this item was correlated with genetic factors.

Accordingly, procrastination may be deemed as the most central facet of conscientiousness, but it is not conscientiousness itself.

Procrastination: The Causes and Correlation

As of date, there's a considerable amount of empirical work that has been made on the subject of procrastination. Many researchers have been persistent in exploring different possible connections and correlates. The many findings and studies made are very ideal in creating procrastination's nomological web, but putting this extensive body of work in a nutshell is a challenge. Originally, the results are split into four major divisions: task characteristics, individual differences, demographics and outcomes.

1. Task characteristics specify the possible environmental causes of procrastination.

2. The section on individual differences talks about the relevant personality traits, and it is classified into the traditional five-factor model.

3. Demographics assesses the possible physical and group moderators.

4. Outcomes deals with the proximal effects of procrastination.

Each division is then subdivided into more specific constructs, which are then reviewed along with their pertinent theory. Subsequently, the relationships covered are considered in the meta-analytic review.

Now that you know the history of procrastination how does one stop procrastination?

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