An Examination of Academic Coping and Procrastination from the Self-Determination Theory Perspective

Abstract

The present study attempted to examine factors related to Taiwanese adolescents’ academic coping and procrastination. Three hundred and eighty-nine ninth grade Taiwanese students completed a self-reported survey assessing their perceptions of parental psychological control, satisfaction of basic psychological needs (i.e., the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness), academic coping, and procrastination. Results of hierarchical regressions suggested that in terms of predictors of academic coping, parental psychological control positively predicted disengagement coping. Autonomy and competence need satisfaction also emerged as significant predictors of academic coping. As for the determinants of academic procrastination, engagement and disengagement coping both functioned as significant predictors of students’ procrastination on homework and exam preparation. Engagement coping negatively predicted academic procrastination. By contrast, disengagement coping was a positive predictor. Additionally, parental control positively predicted procrastination on exam preparation, whereas competence need satisfaction was a negative predictor. Implications for practices and future research were discussed.