Individual differences in undergraduate student athletes: The roles of perfectionism and trait anxiety on perception of procrastinationbehavior

The purpose in this study was to examine how undergraduate student athletes organized different explanations relating to behavioral procrastination into a hierarchy. Participants (N = 201) completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg, & Jacobs, 1983) and the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Hewitt & Flett, 1991) personality questionnaires. Two groups (low and high trait-anxious and perfectionist) were created from the lower and upper third responses. These participants read 6 vignettes describing different explanations of athletes’ behavioral procrastination and 2 control vignettes (nonprocrastinator and reveler drinker), and rated them. The 2 groups both placed the nonprocrastinator vignette in the first position, but rated differently the behavioral self-handicap of reveller drinker and perfectionism with high standards vignettes. Maladaptive aspects of perfectionism associated with procrastination are discussed.