Does Rumination Mediate the Unique Effects of Shame and Guilt on Procrastination?

Abstract

Procrastination is common among college students, involving irrational delay of task completion. Theorists understand procrastination to be an avoidance response to negative emotions. Past research suggests that depression and anxiety predict procrastination. However, only limited research has examined the unique effects of shame and guilt—self-conscious emotions—on procrastination, and no studies have examined potential mechanisms. Depressive rumination, the repetitive and maladaptive thinking about a negative event composed of brooding and reflective pondering, is uniquely predicted by shame—but not guilt—and also predicts greater procrastination. Thus, the current cross-sectional survey study examined (1) whether shame and guilt uniquely predict procrastination and (2) whether depressive rumination mediates those effects in a collegiate sample. Results supported a model wherein brooding and reflective pondering mediate the unique relationship between shame and procrastination. A second model suggested that guilt leads to less procrastination directly but greater procrastination indirectly via increased reflective pondering. Theoretical and clinical implications of the current findings are discussed.