Abstract

Unnecessary delay of start and completion of a specific task may be considered as an active avoidant behavior which puts some endeavor into a wrong direction not toward a target activity but an alternative one. Chronic procrastination which refers to a variety of postponing behaviors in a diverse settings of daily life is related to psychological problems such as anxiety, depression, and low self-efficacy, and etc. In addition, chronic procrastination can produce low academic/job performance and health problems. Research on procrastination and its relation with various psychological factors has identified that procrastination is not laziness or a lack of time management skill but rather than a complex property with cognitive, behavioral, and emotional variables. In addition, as studies have found that procrastination has different characteristics in the cognitive, motivational, emotional process, attempts have been made to classify subtypes of procrastination. The investigation of typological characteristics will help us offer sophisticated and effective therapeutic interventions. For a better understanding of relation between procrastination and adaptation/health, future study needs to take a multiple perspective approach to process variables involving in the development of procrastination. (Korean J Str Res 2009;17:199∼207)

• Keywords: Procrastination, Stress, Adjustment, Health care behaviors;