The Procrastination Equation (27 page)

Lay, C. H., & Brokenshire, R. (1997). Conscientiousness, procrastination, and person-task characteristics in job searching by unemployed adults. Current Psychology: Developmental, Learning, Personality, Social, 16(1), 83–96.

Senecal, C., & Guay, F. (2000). Procrastination in job-seeking: An analysis of motivational processes and feelings of hopelessness. Journal of Social Behavior & Personality, 15(5), 267–282.

²
Sigall, H., Kruglanski, A., & Fyock, J. (2000). Wishful thinking and procrastination. Journal of Social Behavior & Personality, 15(5), 283–296.

³
Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1993). On the power of positive thinking: The benefits of being optimistic. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2(1), 26–30.

⁴
Despite the fact that we all tend to underestimate the time it takes, procrastinators tend to be worse at this.

Buehler, R., Griffin, D., & Ross, M. (1994). Exploring the “planning fallacy”: Why people underestimate their task completion times. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 366–381.

Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979). Intuitive prediction: Biases and corrective procedures. TIMS Studies in Management Sciences, 12, 313–327.

Lay, C. H., & Schouwenburg, H. C. (1993). Trait procrastination, time management, and academic behavior. Journal of Social Behavior & Personality, 8(4), 647–662.

Roy, M. M., Christenfeld, N. J. S., & McKenzie, C. R. M. (2005). Underestimating the duration of future events: Memory incorrectly used or memory bias? Psychological Bulletin, 131(5), 738–756.

Sigall, H., Kruglanski, A., & Fyock, J. (2000). Wishful thinking and procrastination. Journal of Social Behavior & Personality, 15(5), 283–296.

⁵
Vancouver, J., More, K., & Yoder, R. (2008). Self-efficacy and resource allocation: Support for a nonmonotonic, discontinuous model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(1), 35–47.

⁶
Ehrlinger, J., Johnson, K., Banner, M., Dunning, D., & Kruger, J. (2008). Why the unskilled are unaware: Further explorations of (absent) self-insight among the incompetent. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 105(1), 98–121.

Kruger, J., & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(6), 1121–1134.

Russell, B., & Branch, T. (1991). Second wind: The memoirs of an opinionated man. New York: Simon & Schuster.

⁷
Wegner, D. M. (1994). White bears and other unwanted thoughts: Suppression, obsession, and the psychology of mental control. New York: Guilford Press.

Wood, J. V., Perunovic, W. Q. E., & Lee, J. W. (2009). Positive self-statements: Power for some, peril for others. Psychological Science, 20(7), 860–866.

Most poignantly illustrative of the potential danger of aphorisms is the story of Felix Powell, a British Staff Sergeant who wrote the music of the morale-building marching song “Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile,” one of the most optimistic songs ever written. Dressed in the uniform of the Peacehaven Home Guard, Powell shot himself in the heart with a rifle, committing suicide. Indeed, positive self-statements can make matters worse for those with low self-esteem.

⁸
In business academia, they call success spirals an “efficacy-performance deviation amplifying loop.”

Lindsley, D., Brass, D. J., & Thomas, J. B. (1995). Efficacy-performance spirals: A multilevel perspective. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 645–678.

⁹
For early stages of a complex venture, it is often best to have process or learning goals rather than product or outcome goals. That is, the goals are acquiring or refining new skills or steps (the process) rather than winning or getting the highest score (the product). Not only will confidence be maximized but, in the end, higher performance results.

Schunk, D., & Meece, J. (2006). Self-efficacy development in adolescences. In F. Pajares & T. Urdan (Eds.), Self-efficacy beliefs of adolescents (pp. 71–96). Greenwich CT: Information Age.

Seijts, G. H. (2001). Setting goals when performance doesn’t matter. Ivey Business Journal, 65(3), 40–47.

¹⁰
Hans, T. A. (2000). A meta-analysis of the effects of adventure programming on locus of control. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 30(1), 33–60.

Hattie, J., Marsh, H. W., Neil, J. T., & Richards, G. E. (1997). Adventure education and Outward Bound: Out-of-class experiences that make a lasting difference.
Review of Educational Research, 67
(1), 43–87.

Wilson, S. J., & Lipsey, M. W. (2000). Wilderness challenge programs for delinquent youth: A meta-analysis of outcome evaluations.
Evaluation and Program Planning, 23,
1–12.

¹¹
Feldman, A., & Matjasko, J. (2005). The role of school-based extracurricular activities in adolescent development: A comprehensive review and future directions. Review of Educational Research, 75(2), 159–210.

¹²
World Organization of the Scout Movement (1998). Scouting: An educational system. Geneva, Switzerland: World Scout Bureau.

¹³
Gestdottir, S., & Lemer, R. M. (2007). Intentional self-regulation and positive youth development in early adolescence: Findings from the 4-H study of positive youth development. Developmental Psychology, 43(2), 508–521.

Jelicic, H., Bobek, D., Phelps, E., Lerner, R., & Lerner, J. (2007). Using positive youth development to predict contribution and risk behaviors in early adolescence: Findings from the first two waves of the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31(3), 263–273.

Radhakrishna, R., & Sinasky, M. (2005). 4-H experiences contributing to leadership and personal development of 4-H alumni. Journal of Extension, 43(6). Retrieved from: http://www.joe.org/joe/2005december/rb2.php

¹⁴
Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Becoming a self-regulated learner: An over-view. Theory into Practice, 41(2), 64–70.

¹⁵
Early efforts to combat procrastination often focused on just this one step, using cognitive therapy to challenge people’s self-limiting beliefs. It was notably used by the late Albert Ellis, whose approach is being continued by his co-author, William Knaus.

Ellis, A., & Knaus, W. J. (1977). Overcoming procrastination: Or how to think and act rationally in spite of life’s inevitable hassles. Institute for Rational Living.

¹⁶
Schunk, D., & Meece, J. (2006). Self-efficacy development in adolescences. In F. Pajares & T. Urdan (Eds.), Self-efficacy beliefs of adolescents (pp. 71–96). Greenwich CT: Information Age.

¹⁷
This includes the leaders we follow as much as the spouses we choose (e.g., “Behind every great man/woman, there is a great woman/man”). Aside from role models and comparison groups being key determinants of self-efficacy, what others believe (that is, normative beliefs and subjective norms) play a major role in forming an intention to act.

Aarts, H., Dijksterhuis, A., & Dik, G. (2008). Goal contagion: Inferring goals from others' actions—and what it leads to. In J. Y. Shah & W. L. Gardner (Eds.),
Handbook of motivation
(pp. 265–280). New York: Guilford Press.

Armitage, C., & Conner, M. (2001). Efficacy of the theory of planned behaviour: A meta-analytic review.
British Journal of Social Psychology, 40
(4), 471–499.

Rivis, A., & Sheeran, P. (2003). Descriptive norms as an additional predictor in the theory of planned behaviour: A meta-analysis.
Current Psychology, 22
(3), 218–233.

van Knippenberg, D., van Knippenberg, B., De Cremer, D., & Hogg, M. (2004). Leadership, self, and identity: A review and research agenda.
The Leadership Quarterly, 15
(6), 825–856.

¹⁸
Vitale, J., & Hibbler, B. (2006). Meet and grow rich: How to easily create and operate your own “Mastermind” group for health, wealth, and more. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

¹⁹
Metta, G., Sandini, G., Natale, L., Craighero, L., & Fadiga, L. (2006). Understanding mirror neurons. Interaction Studies, 7(2), 97–232.

Weinberg, R. (2008). Does imagery work? Effects on performance and mental skills. Journal of Imagery Research in Sport and Physical Activity, 3(1), 1–21.

²⁰
Achtziger, A., Fehr, T., Oettingen, G., M. Gollwitzer, P., & Rockstroh, B. (2008). Strategies of intention formation are reflected in continuous MEG activity. Social Neuroscience, 4(1), 1–17.

Oettingen, G., Mayer, D., Thorpe, J. S., Janetzke, H., & Lorenz, S. (2005). Turning fantasies about positive and negative futures into self-improvement goals. Motivation and Emotion, 29(4), 236–266.

Oettingen, G., & Thorpe, J. S. (2006). Fantasy realization and the bridging of time. In L. A. Sanna, & E. C. Chang (Eds.), Judgments over time: The interplay of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (pp. 120–143). Oxford: Oxford University Press. But also: Kavanagh, D. J., Andrade, J., & May, J. (2005). Imaginary relish and exquisite torture: The elaborated intrusion theory of desire. Psychological Review, 112(2), 446–467.

Pham, L. B., & Taylor, S. E. (1999). From thought to action: Effects of process- versus outcome-based mental simulations on performance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 250–260.

²¹
It may also be a bad idea to promote a pattern of thinking that puts a person at increased risk for a wide variety of mental illnesses. In compensation, though, those who are extremely fantasy-prone can enjoy imagined food as much as the real and can imagine themselves to orgasm without physical stimulation.

Levin, R., & Spei, E. (2004). Relationship of purported measures of pathological and nonpathological dissociation to self-reported psychological distress and fantasy immersion. Assessment, 11(2), 160–168.

Rhue, J., & Lynn, S. (1987). Fantasy proneness: The ability to hallucinate “as real as real.” British Journal of Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis, 4, 173–180.

Schneider, S. L. (2001). In search of realistic optimism. Meaning, knowledge, and warm fuzziness. American Psychologist, 56(3), 250–263.

Waldo, T. G., & Merritt, R. D. (2000). Fantasy proneness, dissociation, and DSM-IV axis II symptomatology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109(3), 555–558.

²²
Johnson, D. D. P. (2004). Overconfidence and war: The havoc and glory of positive illusions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

²³
Armor, D., & Taylor, S. (2002). When predictions fail: The dilemma of unrealistic optimism. In T. Gilovich, D. Griffin & D. Kahneman (Eds.), Heuristics and biases: The psychology of intuitive judgment (pp. 334–347). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Asterbro, T., Jeffrey, S., & Adomdza, G. K. (2007). Inventor perseverance after being told to quit: The role of cognitive biases.
Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 20
(3), 253–272.

Lovallo, D., & Kahneman, D. (2003). Delusions of success. How optimism undermines executives' decisions.
Harvard Business Review, 81
(7), 56–63.

Moore, D., & Healy, P. (2007).
The trouble with overconfidence.
Unpublished manuscript, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh.

²⁴
Baker, W., & O'Malley, M. (2008). Leading with kindness: How good people consistently get superior results. New York: AMACOM/American Management Association.

Whyte, G., Saks, A., & Hook, S. (1997). When success breeds failure: The role of self-efficacy in escalating commitment to a losing course of action. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 18(5), 415–432.

²⁵
Camerer, C. F., & Lovallo, D. (1999). Overconfidence and excess entry: An experimental approach. American Economic Review, 89(1), 306–318.

Koellinger, P., Minniti, M., & Schade, C. (2007). “I think I can, I think I can”: Overconfidence and entrepreneurial behavior. Journal of Economic Psychology, 28(4), 502–527.

Hmieleski, K., & Baron, R. (2009). Entrepreneurs' optimism and new venture performance: A social cognitive perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 52(3), 473–488.

Shepherd, D. A., Wiklund, J., & Haynie, J. M. (2009). Moving forward: Balancing the financial and emotional costs of business failure. Journal of Business Venturing, 24(2), 134–148.

²⁶
Day, V., Mensink, D., & O'Sullivan, M. (2000). Patterns of academic procrastination. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 30(2), 120–134.

Sigall, H., Kruglanski, A., & Fyock, J. (2000). Wishful thinking and procrastination.
Journal of Social Behavior & Personality, 15
(5), 283–296.

²⁷
Though having several critics, such as the influential psychologist Albert Ellis, and accused of being a confidence (con) man, Peale’s popularity still remains strong.

Hilkey, J. (1997). Character is capital: Success manuals and manhood in Gilded Age America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Meyer, D. (1988). The positive thinkers: Popular religious psychology from Mary Baker Eddy to Norman Vincent Peale and Ronald Reagan. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.

Weiss, R. (1988). The American myth of success: From Horatio Alger to Norman Vincent Peale. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

²⁸
Barbara Held, a psychology professor at Bowdoin College, describes it this way: “The positive attitude has—in some of its manifestations—become tyrannical, in that Americans have come to live not only with a historically/culturally grounded inclination for optimism but with the expectation, with the demand, that they maintain a positive attitude at all times and at all costs.”

De Raeve, L. (1997). Positive thinking and moral oppression in cancer care. European Journal of Cancer Care, 6(4), 249–256.

Ehrenreich, B. (2009). Bright-sided: How the relentless promotion of positive thinking has undermined America. New York: Metropolitan Books.