When do we put things off? A volitional-task attractiveness framework of personality and task-related factors in predicting procrastinatory behavior

Although some people procrastinate more than others, most of us occasionally postpone tasks until tomorrow that we could or should have done today. The present study proposes a volitional-task attractiveness framework including both personality and task-related predictors of actual procrastinatory behavior. Data were collected in a three-wave design around the Christmas break. Using a representative sample of the Dutch population, qualitative data were collected on tasks/situations that induce procrastination (N = 1835) and the validity of the volitional-task attractiveness framework was explored regarding procrastination on a Christmas break task (n = 712). Most respondents (95.6%) reported to at least occasionally procrastinate (e.g., on housekeeping, social, and administrative tasks; when busy/stressed, tasks conflict, and being tired). While personality (i.e., trait procrastination) positively predicted procrastinatory behavior, task-related factors (i.e., task importance and task motivation) explained 12% unique additional variance. Whereas intrinsic task motivation negatively and amotivation positively predicted procrastinatory behavior, extrinsic task motivation showed a more complex pattern. Lastly, low intrinsic motivation was less harmful for those higher on trait self-control. The findings align with the proposed volitional-task attractiveness framework, suggesting that both personality and task-related factors as well as their interaction explain actual procrastinatory behavior.