Dispositional hope and life satisfaction as predictors of academic procrastination in students with different levels of optimism and activity

Introduction. Procrastination is a widespread phenomenon in the student environment, which has a negative impact on an individual’s academic performance and psychological wellbeing. The study aims to investigate the role of dispositional hope and life satisfaction in predicting procrastination in students with different combinations of optimism and activity. It is hypothesised that dispositional hope and life satisfaction act as factors reducing the level of academic procrastination in students showing different combinations of optimism and activity. Materials and methods. The study involved 356 different-profile learners (175 males and 181 females, the average age 21.6) studying at the University of Architecture and Civil Engineering (Russian Federation, St. Petersburg). The following psychodiagnostic tools were used: “Dispositional Hope Scale” by C.R. Snyder et al., adapted by K. Muzdybaev, “Optimism and Activity” questionnaire by Schuller and A. Comunian, adapted by N.E. Vodopyanova, “Life Satisfaction” test by N.N. Melnikova, and “Academic Procrastination Assessment Scale” by L. Solomon and E. Rothblblad, adapted by M.V. Zvereva. Methods of descriptive statistics, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, the Pearson correlation coefficient, variance analysis, and regression analysis were used for data processing. KEYWORDS Results. The correlation analysis results showed a negative relationship between life satisfaction (-0.23; p ≤ 0.05) and dispositional hope, with the frequency of academic procrastination (-0.19; p ≤ 0.05), social anxiety (-0.12; p ≤ 0.05) and laziness (-0.13; p ≤ 0.05). The authors revealed a significant contribution of dispositional hope to the level of academic procrastination of students who had different combinations of optimism and activity, split into the groups “Realist” (β = -1.17), “Idler” (β = -2.29), and “Victim” (β =-0.52). The “Victim” group represents the most vulnerable category, with the lowest level of dispositional hope, life satisfaction, and a pronounced tendency to procrastination. Conclusion. The research results demonstrate some significant factors accounting for procrastination in students with different levels of optimism and activity. The obtained data emphasise the importance of considering individual differences when analysing the mechanisms of procrastination and developing methods to overcome it.