Analysis

The Procrastination Scale was developed by Charles S. Lay in 1986 and is a tool designed to assess individuals’ tendency to postpone tasks and responsibilities. Procrastination is a common psychological behavior that can impact a person’s performance and well-being.

Objective

The main objective of Lay’s Procrastination Scale is to measure the degree of procrastination and identify an individual’s inclination to delay obligations. The scale focuses on the frequency and severity of procrastination, as well as time management.

Scoring

The Procrastination Scale includes questions that participants rate using a Likert scale ranging from 1 (very rarely) to 5 (very often). The total score is calculated by summing the scores of each item. Higher scores indicate a greater tendency toward procrastination.

References

Lay, C. H. (1986). At last, my research on procrastination. Journal of Research in Personality, 20(2), 232–235.
Lay, C. H. (1988). The role of task aversiveness in procrastination. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 3(4), 547–558.
Ferrari, J. R., & Tice, D. M. (2000). Procrastination as a self-handicapping strategy: A review of the literature. European Journal of Personality, 14(5), 425–438.
Steel, P. (2007). The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 65–94.
Sirois, F. M., & Pychyl, T. A. (2013). Procrastination and stress: Exploring the role of self-compassion. Self and Identity, 12(3), 337–356.