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Visible Learning™
Visible Learning MetaX™
Version 1.4 – Updated February 2026

Procrastination

Overview

  • Influence: Procrastination
  • Domain: Student
  • Sub-Domain: Emotions
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Likely to have a negative impact
  • Influence Definition: Procrastination is the act of delaying or postponing a task or set of tasks.

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 3
  • Number of studies: 128
  • Number of students: 25,187
  • Number of effects: 128
  • Weighted mean effect size: -0.41
  • Robustness index: 3

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Psychological Bulletin Steel The nature of procrastination: a meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. 2007 Procrastination on achievement 41 NA 41 -0.39
International Journal of Educational Methodology Akpur The Effect of Procrastination on Academic Achievement: A Meta-Analysis Study. 2020 Procrastination on achievement 22 8,307 22 -0.61
Journal of Educational Psychology Schwinger, Trautner, Pütz, Fabianek, Lemmer, Lauermann, & Wirthwein Why do students use strategies that hurt their chances of academic success? A meta-analysis of antecedents of academic self-handicapping. 2021 Procrastination on achievement 65 16,880 65 -0.35
TOTAL/AVERAGE 128 25,187 128 -0.45
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