Academic Procrastination as a Product of Low Self-Esteem: A Mediational Role of Academic Self-Efficacy

Academic procrastination is a common behavior among university students. The study was designed to assess the direct and indirect role of self-esteem in academic procrastination through academic self-efficacy among university undergraduate students. The sample comprised of 502 students (210 male and 292 female). The age range of the participants was between 22 to 24 year (M = 22.64, SD = .77). The Self-efficacy Scale (Pintrich & De Groot, 1990), Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965), and Procrastination Assessment Scale for Students (Solomon & Rothblum, 1984) were used to collect the data. Path analysis through structural equation modeling revealed that academic selfefficacy fully mediated the relationship between self-esteem and academic procrastination, and 18 percent of variance in academic procrastination was accounted for by the indirect effect of selfesteem via academic self-efficacy. The independent sample t-test further revealed that male students scored significantly higher as compared to female students on academic procrastination.