The role of big five traits and self-esteem on academic procrastination in Honduran and Spanish university students: A cross-cultural study

Abstract

Academic procrastination, a prevalent issue in higher education, has been associated with various adverse outcomes. This study aims to discern and compare the degrees of academic procrastination among university students in Honduras and Spain while also investigating the relationship between academic procrastination and the Big Five personality factors alongside self-esteem. The sample comprised 457 university students, encompassing 237 Hondurans and 220 Spaniards. The research employed descriptive, comparative, correlational, and regression analyses. Honduran university students exhibited a significantly lower level of academic procrastination. Correlational analyses revealed that self-esteem and all Big Five personality factors, except for neuroticism in the Spanish cohort, displayed noteworthy associations with academic procrastination. Further regression analyses demonstrated that conscientiousness emerged as a significant predictor of procrastination in both samples. This study’s findings can be pivotal in identifying students at risk of procrastination at an early stage. Additionally, the results can inform the development of intervention programs designed to mitigate procrastination tendencies among university students.