Abstract:

Prior studies have demonstrated that employing adaptive emotion-regulation strategies, such as cognitive reappraisal, can effectively mitigate procrastination. Nevertheless, the cognitive mechanisms that account for the impact of emotion regulation on procrastination still lack clarity. The temporal decision model of procrastination postulates that procrastination is primarily influenced by the tradeoff between task aversiveness and outcome utility. When task aversiveness exceeds outcome utility, individuals are prone to procrastination; conversely, if outcome utility outweighs task aversiveness, they are more likely to take immediate action. Consequently, emotion regulation has the potential to reduce procrastination by either diminishing task aversiveness or enhancing outcome utility.
In order to explore this matter, this study adopts Gross’s emotion regulation theory and the temporal decision model of procrastination. Specifically, the study targets individuals with high levels of procrastination, as indicated by scores above 67.5 on the General Procrastination Scale. These individuals were assigned to the positive reappraisal group (n = 34) and the ineffective strategy group (n = 34), respectively. The longitudinal tracking of both groups took place over a period of 7 days, resulting in a total of 14 data collection points obtained through empirical sampling.
The results showed that: (1) There was no notable disparity between the two groups in task executive willingness during the pre-test (M _{Pre-test of positive reappraisal group} = 2.05, SD = 1.67, M _{Pre-test of ineffective strategy group} = 2.42, SD = 2.17; F(1, 202) = 1.88, p = 0.172), while the positive reappraisal group demonstrated a significantly higher task executive willingness compared to the ineffective strategy group in the post-test (M _{Post-test of positive reappraisal group} = 5.26, SD = 1.97, M _{Post-test of ineffective strategy group} = 2.91, SD = 2.44; F(1, 202) = 57.49, p < 0.001, partial η² = 0.22) (Figure 1a), indicating that positive reappraisal significantly enhanced individuals’ task executive willingness. (2) No significant difference was observed in task aversiveness between the two groups during the pre-test (M _{Pre-test of positive reappraisal group} = − 5.81, SD = 1.65, M _{Pre-test of ineffective strategy group} = −5.56, SD = 1.88; F(1, 202) = 1.06, p = 0.304), while the positive reappraisal group exhibited noticeably lower levels of task aversiveness compared to the ineffective strategy group in the post-test (M _{Post-test of positive reappraisal group} = − 0.77, SD = 3.19, M _{Post-test of ineffective strategy group} = − 3.75, SD = 3.02; F(1, 202) = 46.59, p < 0.001, partial η² = 0.19) (Figure 2a). Additionally, initial outcome utility levels did not differ significantly between the two groups (M _{Pre-test of positive reappraisal group} = 6.94, SD = 2.33, M _{Pre-test of ineffective strategy group} = 6.81, SD = 2.62; F(1, 202) = 0.14, p = 0.714), while the positive reappraisal group demonstrated significantly higher outcome utility compared to the ineffective strategy group in the post-test (M _{Post-test of positive reappraisal group} = 7.69, SD = 1.90, M _{Post-test of ineffective strategy group} = 6.68, SD = 2.69; F(1, 202) = 9.58, p = 0.002, partial η² = 0.05) (Figure 3a). (3) Mediation analysis indicated that the reduction of task aversiveness mediated the influence of emotion regulation on the degree of improvement in procrastination (that is, the increase in task executive willingness)(b = 0.44, 95% CI = [0.765, 1.561]) (Figure 4), whereas the increase of outcome utility did not mediate the impact of emotion regulation on the degree of improvement in procrastination (that is, the increase in task executive willingness) (b = 0.06, 95% CI = [− 0.013, 0.367]).
These findings suggest that emotion regulation primarily enhances individuals’ task executive willingness by diminishing task aversiveness, consequently mitigating procrastination behavior. This provides a robust theoretical basis for interventions that aim to address procrastination by focusing on emotion regulation.

Key words: procrastination, task aversiveness, outcome utility, emotion regulation, the temporal decision model of procrastination