This essay examines procrastination as a human behavioral response to stress and anxiety, arguing that it functions primarily as a coping mechanism rather than a simple failure of discipline. Drawing on psychological research and counseling literature, the paper outlines the three defining conditions of procrastination — counterproductive behavior, dispensability, and obstruction of progress — and explores multiple etiologies for the behavior. The essay distinguishes between passive procrastinators, who are debilitated by avoidance, and active procrastinators, who deliberately leverage deadline pressure to enhance performance. It also considers how competing life priorities and perfectionism can drive procrastination, challenging the assumption that all procrastination is inherently negative.
This paper demonstrates effective synthesis of multiple sources around a central interpretive claim. Rather than summarizing each source separately, the writer integrates Fiore, Burka and Yuen, and Chun Chu and Jin Nam to progressively build and complicate the argument, culminating in the active/passive procrastination distinction as the paper's analytical centerpiece.
The essay opens with a definition and the three behavioral conditions of procrastination, then states its thesis. The body moves from the general psychological consensus (anxiety as root cause) to a more nuanced discussion of competing priorities and perfectionism, and finally to the research-backed distinction between passive and active procrastinators. The conclusion reinforces the coping-mechanism framing. This progression — from established consensus to complicating evidence — is a strong model for argumentative essays in the social sciences.
Procrastination is a human behavior that results when a person avoids or puts off a task — generally one of high importance — in order to complete tasks of generally lower importance (Burka & Yuen 2008; Fiore 2006; Hsin Chun Chu & Nam 2011; Schraw, Wadkins, & Olafson 2007). Human behaviors are the results of choices, whether those choices are completely intentional or the product of subconscious intent. Without delving too deeply into the psychology of human choice and behavior, it is important to note that procrastination is no different from most other human behaviors in that it can result from conscious intention, subconscious intent, or some combination of the two.
According to Schraw, Pinard, and Wadkins (2007), three conditions must be present for a behavioral response to be labeled as procrastination:
1. Counterproductive: Problematic; thwarting achievement of a purpose; tending to hinder or distract from one's higher priorities or purpose (Simpson & Weiner 1989).
2. Dispensable: Not essential; unimportant; unnecessary (Simpson & Weiner 1989).
3. Obstructing progress: Interfering with the pursuit of a goal or purpose; an obstacle that partially or completely blocks a necessary task or goal; delaying progress on a task or the achievement of a goal because of an obstacle (Simpson & Weiner 1989).
The purpose of this essay is to acknowledge the different ways in which procrastination occurs in people's lives, and to identify and explain the most probable cause of procrastination as a coping mechanism — one that can have both positive and adverse effects on human behavior.
Most psychologists believe that procrastination is a coping mechanism in response to anxiety stemming from the anticipation of starting or having to finish either an important task or an important decision (Fiore 2006). Fiore (2006), a facilitator of Self Leadership Seminars, Executive Coach, and Speaker, focuses on acknowledging the underlying mechanisms and influences of procrastination. He believes that procrastination may be a partially conscious choice, but is mostly a subconscious behavioral response to stress and anxiety. Fiore (2006) primarily identifies the underlying association between procrastination and the anxiety created by the looming need to start and/or complete a task or decision-making process. He also emphasizes that the nature of procrastination is to become distracted by lower-priority tasks or opportunities in place of higher-priority tasks and decisions that have deadlines.
Taking this theory more broadly, Burka and Yuen (2008) apply their experience and credentials in counseling psychology to engage the topic of procrastination. They also believe that procrastination is a problematic behavior that emerges as a response to stress or anxiety. They address the issue from the standpoint that procrastination is a behavior to which anyone and everyone is susceptible — including students, scientists, administrators, assistants, executives, doctors, teachers, parents, salespeople, and all other persons and professionals (Burka & Yuen 2008). They make it clear that no one is immune to the behavior and that, no matter how trivial a delayed task may seem, procrastination has consequences that often become problematic (Burka & Yuen 2008). They identify manifestations of the behavior and a number of etiologies for it, as well as proven strategies for overcoming procrastination, dealing with its consequences, working more effectively with people who consistently procrastinate, and establishing new practices for avoiding the behavior.
The reason all of this matters is that most people assume the cause of procrastination is always negative by associating its cause strictly with its consequences. For the most part, the consequences of procrastination are negative: important tasks go uncompleted, and goals face significant interference because tasks of lower importance take precedence. However, the problem with this logic is that occasionally procrastination may result from placing a task or goal that the individual perceives as more important ahead of the task that others are waiting for him or her to complete. In general, procrastination is only a problem when it affects others — itself a key insight. Some people procrastinate in their daily lives in ways that never really affect anyone but themselves, while others procrastinate in ways that affect other people.
It is this latter reality that creates such a negative perspective on the cause of procrastination. Generally speaking, the most probable cause is agreed upon as a coping mechanism for stress and anxiety. However, the specific sources of that stress or anxiety are rarely elaborated upon. In some cases, a procrastinator may be anxious about starting or completing a task; in other cases, he or she may be stressed by a lack of time and thus cannot seem to begin, or may be a perfectionist who works far better under intense pressure at the last minute and therefore finds it counterproductive to start too early. Coping mechanisms are often healthy implementations in life as stress-management tools. A procrastinator may simply be coping with a very busy schedule, using procrastination as a way to prioritize tasks and goals. The problem is that not everyone will share the same perspective about priorities, especially those who are affected by another person's procrastination.
For example, a procrastinator may put off his or her role in a group project until the last minute because of childcare responsibilities and the need to work extra shifts to pay the bills. Alternatively, a procrastinator may put off a family responsibility — such as grocery shopping for a disabled relative or taking a relative to dinner — because a group project role needs to be completed first. In both cases, the procrastinator has likely weighed the options and prioritized based on the available evidence. Yet the person being put off will probably think negatively of the procrastinator, even though the delay was a coping mechanism for managing the stress of competing obligations.
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