Academic procrastination and its correlates among candidates of the Lebanese baccalaureate program : academic self-efficacy and academic achievement

Abstract

Academic procrastination is a widespread dysfunctional behavior among students, invariably affecting their academic achievement and psychological wellbeing. This quantitative study investigated the relationships between academic procrastination and each of academic self-efficacy and academic achievement among candidates of the Lebanese Baccalaureate Program (LBP). This study attempted to extend the existing international literature and address a gap in the literature studying academic procrastination, academic self-efficacy, and academic achievement in Lebanon. It also tried to contribute to understanding the unresolved disagreements on the relationships between academic procrastination and each of academic self-efficacy and academic achievement among students. The sample consisted of 328 LBP candidates for the academic year of 2018-2019. The study drew on data collected from the participants’ first school semester averages as well as their scores on two scales, namely the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale and the Academic Procrastination Scale. The data collected were entered on the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software for analysis. Chi-Square Test was conducted to determine whether low and high academic procrastinators differed significantly at the levels of their academic self-efficacy and academic achievement, while simple linear regression was done to examine the relative contribution of academic self-efficacy to academic procrastination and the relative contribution of academic procrastination to academic achievement. Results converged to significant differences between low and high academic procrastinators at the levels of their academic self-efficacy as well as academic achievement. High academic procrastinators had significantly lower levels of academic self-efficacy and academic achievement compared to low academic procrastinators. Findings as well helped confirm having academic self-efficacy a predictor of academic procrastination and having academic procrastination a predictor of