The Perception of Fourth year Criminology

Students Of Saint Ferdinand College

Towards Procrastination
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An Undergraduate Thesis
Presented to

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The Faculty of the College of Criminal Justice Education

Saint Ferdinand College
City of Ilagan, Isabela

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In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice Education

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 MEMBERS: IV GB
John Carlo Prodigo
Jonathan Manzano
Jose Angelo Galano Gerardo
Mar jun Cabaccan
Mark Prudencio Apan
Patrick Macasaddug Domingo
Harley Shane Talon

Submitted to:
Sir, Mario Sevilla
Research Adviser

Chapter 1
 The Problem and its Background
Introduction

Procrastination, one of the most common yet pervasive difficulties faced by undergraduate

students, has remained a significant challenge in their academic performance and personal well-

being. Despite its widespread prevalence and impact, limited research has been conducted on the

perceptions of fourth-year Criminology students towards procrastination. Understanding this

dynamic is essential for academics, students, and administrators to address this issue and

mitigate its consequences. This study aims to fill this gap and investigate the perceptions of

fourth-year Criminology students towards procrastination. The study proposes to explore their

understanding of procrastination's causes, impacts, and management strategies and further

investigate their perspective on what they consider to be successful procrastination management.

This research is significant as it brings attention to the ongoing challenge of procrastination and

its implications for academic performance and personal wellbeing. Understanding students'

perceptions towards procrastination can offer valuable insights to academics and administrators

in designing effective interventions to address this issue and enhance students' educational

experiences. The findings can also contribute to the literature on procrastination in higher

education and help in identifying critical areas for further research. Many things and

consequences in our daily work are often needed to do with small or even large amounts of

effort. Not only for adult persons who took responsibilities for their family, but also for the

youths like students. Despite having multiple works and activities to do, students often show an

incredible struggle towards self- regulatory failure that is not entirely understood. Procrastination

is very common in the school where students face a multiple of academic requirements such as

examinations, assignments, and research work. Individuals may procrastinate for various
reasons. Some are observed to experience problems in time management., lack of motivation to

accomplish a task and inability to concentrate in one’s work. The challenge is how to be able to

balance and manage their studies in spite of the various activities inside and outside the

academic. These actions often hinder themselves from achieving their desired academic goals.

According to Laeus (2015), procrastination is avoidance of doing a task that needs to be

accomplished. He further states that procrastination is the process of doing more pleasurable

things in place of less pleasurable ones, or carrying out less urgent tasks instead of more urgent

ones, thus putting off implementing tasks to a later time.

According to George (2005), he considers procrastination as a dispositional trait which has

cognitive, behavioral and emotional components, furthermore it affects activities of students who

could not read but only postponing time of reading.

Students frequently misunderstand why they always come up and lay their hands down when

it comes to a bunch of homework and projects to do. Some will say that it is only an usual

negative reaction to various activities that they need to finish. This is known to be lazy in the

first place and cramming in every possible way, then they will rush to finish this obligation at the

end, like ‘beating the red light”. According to Andereou (2016), genuine procrastination exists

and supported by preference loops, it can be either stable or evanescent. As stated by Anderueo,

it seems procrastinating is a choice if students stick to this act of mind set or not.

Chow (2011) stated that students with high level procrastination expressed more

dissatisfaction with their school life. Grunschel et al. (2013) found that procrastination was

related to low satisfaction with studies. These evidences suggested that academic procrastination

leads to an academic life rife with stress, anxiety, guilt, and regrets that adversely impact

students’ academic life satisfaction.

 Gender differences in frequency of procrastination has been one of the most discussed issues

due to inconsistent research findings. Some studies have failed to find gender differences in

procrastination (e.g. Hess, Sherman, & Goodman, 2000; Şirin, 2011). Some authors have argued

that females are at greater risk for procrastination (e.g. Doyle & Paludi, 1998, Washington,

2004). The other group researcher reported that males are at greater risk for procrastination (e.g.

Özer et al. 2009; Steel, 2007; Steel & Ferrari, 2013). For instance, in a recent study with a large

sample conducted by Steel and Ferrari (2013), confirmed that males are more likely to

procrastinate than females.

Conceptual Framework

Procrastination is defined as “The action of delaying or postponing something”. ( Oxford

dictionary, 2014). Actually, procrastination is considered to be a problematic tendency generally

viewed as a negative trait only. Procrastination creates two types of problems as pointed out by

Burka and Yuen (1983). One is when procrastination generates problems related to the outside

world like not able to complete an assignment on time. Second is when it generates problems

related to self like regret, despair etc. The essence of procrastination lies in not doing what you

think you should be doing, a mental contortion that surely accounts for the great psychic toll the

habit takes on people.” (a blog by Kooper).

PROCRASTINATION

Delay or Non-
Fear of failure achievement
 Drop in self-esteem

Research Paradigm

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

Analysis of:

1. What is the demographic I. Profile of the respondents.

profile of respondents? Minimal practice of
Age academic
procrastination towards
Gen their school works.
der
II. How the Fourth Year
Criminology students
How does the Fourth Year perceive procrastination.
Criminology students perceive
procrastination?

III. The frequency of the

How often do Fourth Year respondents who practiced
Criminology Students procrastination.
procrastinate?

Statement Of The Problem

 The purpose of this research is to know and understand the perception of Saint Ferdinand

College Criminology students towards procrastination. This researchers seek to answer the

following questions:

1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of:

A.Gender

B.Age

2. How does the SFC fourth year Criminology students perceive procrastination?

3. How often do SFC fourth year Criminology students procrastinate?

Scope And Delimitation

The study will only discuss the perception of the selected Criminology students of Saint

Ferdinand College for the school year 2023-2024. The researchers will carefully select 26

students from every section. It will not include the perception of the college department, faculty,

or even the school administration and its staff. The study will only focus on the subject which is

procrastination specifically “Academic Procrastination”, among 4th year Criminology students

of SFC.

Significance Of The Study

The study could provide information regarding the perception of Saint Ferdinand College

Fourth year Criminology students towards procrastination. The study could be considered

significant to the following:

Fourth year Criminology Students . This will help them have a better understanding of what

the situation is when it comes to handling priorities and tasks. They can use this as a tool to

assess themselves, and help others like them, after reading this paper,
Parents.This will help them to have a better connection to their child because understanding

what's behind their child's procrastination may help them better understand their child's needs,

and avoid encountering the behavior in the future.

Teachers: This will provide them additional information about their students’ struggling to

handling these situations and this study may eventually guide the teachers on helping and

improving the conditions of their own students who practice procrastination.

School Administrators. This will help the school to get a better view of the insights of their

students toward the act of procrastination and to gain additional understanding about their

students’ situation, not only in terms of time management but also in the psychological aspect.

This study could build a better connection between the school and its students.

Future researchers. This will help them discover new knowledge regarding the bird’s-eye view

of the topic which is commonly unknown for many. This is also an opportunity to dig deeper and

know more about procrastination that sounds usual to the masses but definitely a complex one.

This will also help them serve as a mirror for future researchers because there are possibilities

that they will see themselves from the respondents’ point of view. They will surely gain

something new in this study.

Definition Of Terms

Anxiety. Is an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical

changes like increased blood pressure.

Beating the red light. is the act of pushing the limitations, sometimes leads to unwanted

consequences.

Covert. is not openly acknowledge or displayed.

Cramming is the act of stacking up of works; rushing to complete an assigned task for the last

minute.

Evanescent. means vanishing or fading away.

Perception. is the viewpoint of someone, either by sight or by opinion.

Procrastination. is the act of delaying assigned works for a given period of time intentionally.

Self-esteem is used to describe a person's overall sense of self-worth or personal value.

Stable. means steady or firm.

Chapter 2
 Review of Related Literature and Studies

This chapter presents a review of related literature and studies which served as a frame of

reference for this study.The foregoing related literature and studies presented are similar to the

present study as far as the testing effective methodology is concerned.

Foreign literature

According to Dr. Piers Steel, procrastination is one of the self- regulatory failures that

can’t be explained until now; It is also a current and destructive behavior in this era. So, Steel

reviewed the relevant conceptual, theoretical and empirical works resulting in correlational,

experimental and qualitative findings. Based on 691 correlations, a meta- analysis of

procrastination’s possible causes and effects shows that neuroticism, rebelliousness, and

sensation seeking show only a weak connection. Steel also said that the following are the strong

and consistent signs of procrastination: task aversiveness, task delay, self- efficacy, and

impulsiveness, as well as conscientiousness and its facets of self- control, distractibility,

organization, and achievement motivation. “Continue research into procrastination should be

delayed, especially because its prevalence appears to be growing’’ ( Steel, 2007).

Milana Knezevic said that procrastination is a student’s worst enemy, it is a disease that

eats away students productivity. An American study estimates that 70% of students showed signs

of this behavior. “Students are biologically and socially predisposed to put off until tomorrow

what we should do today.”, “Aside from the cliché that students are more impulsive, in your

early 20s you’re still developing your pre- frontal cortex, home of the will power. He argues the

closer you are to the temptation of fun, the more likely you are to indulge. At university, where
even the library is filled with friends and has a quality internet connection, a “short break” can

easily turn into an hour wasted (Steel & Knezevic, 2016).

In the study of Faisal Z. Miqdadi, et al., (2014), In college, it is most likely that

everything is the student’s responsibility. Having so many distractions like social media, internet,

video games, friends around and many more have led students to procrastinate on many

important things especially studying and completing their assignment on time. Procrastination

means to put off doing something, especially out of habitual laziness, is a result of a cultivated

habit and it impacts everyone. Most students who stay in dorms will be distracted will all sorts of

entertainment and peer pressure that will eventually lead them to delay their assignment. To

make it worst, those who rent a house with friends will be more relaxed since they will have

plenty of time outside of the college area. They can do whatever they want without being

controlled by anyone else.

Moreover, many students said that they like to finish their assignments on the last minute

because the time pressure will help them to develop ideas better. The question is, does it work

for everyone? A lot of students will take plenty of time thinking about the topic of their

assignment. Thus, if they decided to do the assignment on the last minute, they will be facing

trouble in completing it properly. Plus, weaker students might need extra time to do some extra

research. Furthermore, when he keeps delaying his work, stress will rise up and more pressure

will be on the student, which will lead him to late submission and his grades will decrease (Faisal

Z. Miqdadi, et al., 2014).

Adam Price Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist with more than 20 years of experience working

with children and teens who wrote the blog about procrastination entitled as “4 Reasons Why

Teens Can't Stop Procrastinating” on April 17, 2018.

 According to him, the procrastinator has a false sense of security. He feels optimistic that

everything is in control, so there is plenty of time to goof off. He often misjudges the time it will

take to complete a task; an estimate of 30 minutes for a job that will take two hours leaves him

short. This is why procrastination has been likened to a credit card — it is easy and fun at first,

but then you get the bill. And the interest is paid in feelings of dread, anxiety, helplessness, and

self-hatred. However, the habit of not doing it is tough to break, because it’s self-reinforcing. A

good grade (or sometimes just a passing grade) is proof that the system works, and that

performing under pressure is necessary and effective. Unfortunately, the cost of putting things

off is more than time. It strengthens the erroneous belief that work has to be unpleasant.

Although the procrastinator becomes well practiced in avoidance, he never develops important

skills, such as planning, organization, thought development, and attention to detail. The cure for

this malady is elusive, because procrastination is an attempt to resolve underlying issues we are

not necessarily aware of — like anger, perfectionism, and self-doubt. While it does eliminate the

anxiety associated with these problems, the root causes remain. Though they may help, the

procrastination habit cannot be broken with a few strategies or tricks. The only way to truly

conquer it is to learn it and become actively engaged in learning. For the opt-out, this takes time

and emotional growth. However, the benefits of breaking the habit are significant. They include

peace of mind, a feeling of strength, purpose, and being in charge of your life. While the

procrastinator feels weak and helpless, the engaged student will feel strong, competent, and

capable.
Foreign Study

Base from the study of Hannah Bernstein and Dan Gutenberg about the procrastination of

Community High School students located at Ann Arbor, Michigan on November 9, 2018. After

surveying over 100 CHS students on procrastinating, the results were as expected. The vast

majority mentioned that they procrastinate, and 63.7 percent responded that they cram for a test

in one night, rather than dividing up their studying, once they become notified of an upcoming

test. The survey also reports that if students are assigned a project due in two weeks, 51.3 percent

do not begin their project until the second week. Procrastinators are just scrambling, and the

project won’t be as good,” CHS teacher Courtney Kiley said. “Your brain does not have enough

time to think about [the material] and the mistakes you have made, to process all the

information.”

The survey of CHS students shows many different ways students multitask. The majority of

students are either listening to music, watching T.V., on social media or checking phone

notifications. Some of these distractions are caused by the increase of technology, and resisting

this urge is challenging, as reported by CHS students. Even Kiley will check herself scrolling

through social media while trying to grade work.

“[During my homework] I watch Netflix,” CHS sophomore Nikolai Tang said. “I’ll have The

Office playing on the side, and I’m also on Snapchat.”According to the American Psychological

Association, “Between 80 and 95 percent of college students procrastinate on their schoolwork.”

Procrastination is also extremely relevant with working adults. Workplace and student

procrastination is consistently an issue, and 20 percent of individuals actually label themselves as

procrastinators.
High school procrastination can develop while students are in school and may stick with them

until they become adults. Students feeling that the task is not important or relevant to them is the

primary reason for procrastination. Not comprehending the material is another critical reason

why students procrastinate.

No matter the reason, a staggering number of negative effects come with procrastinating.

Procrastinating may affect a student’s grades, or, more importantly, their overall health. It has

been found to lead to severe depression or serious anxiety and stress issues. Procrastination is not

only counterproductive for students, but also to the teachers. Teachers assign projects, and decide

how much time they will allow for it to be done; hoping that the students will apportion their

time correctly, so that they will not have to worry about doing last-minute work. When students

procrastinate, it discourages teachers from offering that much time for future assignments.

According to Common Sense Media, “Half of teens often watch T.V. or use social media

while doing homework, and 60% of teens answer texts while doing homework.” Many of these

students do not realize or comprehend that multitasking is impacting their learning. Multitasking

takes focus away from learning and can results in lower grades. If multitasking begins to become

more apparent, performance can drop at a greater rate.

There are many different ways to study when preparing for a test. Repetition is important to

really understand the material, and in order to grasp it, students should start preparing as early as

possible to limit cramming. Over the period of time before a test, students should review notes,

use flashcards for repetition, and simply talk to another person and try to explain the topics. All

of these processes will help limit mental distraction and increase preparedness.
Local Literature

Grace Shangkuan Koo, a columnist in the Philippines Inquirer Newspaper, blogged

something about procrastination entitled as “Why do people procrastinate?” According to Koo,

procrastinating has to do with ‘estimation’. Almost everyone procrastinates and there are some

more than others. She also said that people procrastinate or do things off when they

overestimated the time they have or underestimated how long it takes to accomplish a task. Also,

people may overestimate their abilities and motivation, expecting that things will go smoothly

without a flaw. She also mentioned that people use all sorts of excuses to justify their

procrastination: It’s either they do not know how to complete or they really don’t know what

needs to be done. Sometimes, they will say that they are not in the mood or they forget. To blame

others or waiting for the right moment or for inspiration is also one of the excuses. Another thing

that Koo expressed in the blog is that people may also think that they can do better under

pressure, waiting until the last minute, believing they can finish on time and do other tasks. She

mentioned that there is a researcher who said that procrastinators: The active ones are those who

work under pressure and finish the tasks on time while on the other hand, the passive

procrastinators are those who continue to wait and delay and never get to accomplish their work.

Perfectionism could also be the cause of procrastination. Unhealthy or neurotic perfectionist”

aims at unrealistic high standards and afraid to fail. They are also paralyzed to even initiate a

work. (Koo, 2013)

Another blog in the internet with a title of “Saka na, bukas na: Pinoy procrastination” asks if

we, The Filipinos, ever wondered how the timeless virtue 'Filipino time’ originated? Do we

know why did the grasshopper starved to death in the story of “The ant and the grasshopper”?

Do we also know why the hare lost the race against the turtle? Based on this blog, it is because of
the act of procrastination. The Filipino way of saying it is “saka na lang” which is clearly the

manana habit we inherited from our conqueror centuries ago. If we will look into reality,

procrastinating is the theif of time. Tie is the only thing in this world that all of us can lose and

never regain. By procrastinating, an individual is at risk of wasting and killing the time.

Unfortunately, when the individual realizes this fact, he has already run out of time. He/ She

might try not to give up by saying the famous line “Bahala na” and hoping that there would be a

“later”. The conflict is that ‘later’ usually ends with a “never.” (2013)

The fear of failure is related to low self- confidence where individuals delay because of the

fear or belief that they will not accomplish it. Students with high confidence can somehow

respond positively to the academic challenges despite the difficulty of work. (Mandap, 2016).

Local Study

Based on the study of Carla M. Mandap (2016) entitled as “Examining the Differences in

Procrastination Tendencies among University Students , male students procrastinate more than

the female students. The present study investigated the differences in the procrastination

behaviors of the university students in terms of gender, academic courses, levels of performance

and academic self efficacy. In terms of gender, the study found a significant difference on the

level of procrastination of male and female students. Result is similar to the findings of Khan, et

al. (2014) and Ferrari, et al. (2009) which reported that procrastination is mostly observed in

male students. Moreover, based on the responses on the items of the procrastination scale, male

students showed higher procrastination scores because of dislike of activities and perceived

difficulty of accomplishing a task. Findings of the study also revealed that no significant

difference was observed in the procrastination scores when students were grouped according to
type of academic course and level of performance. On average, both groups of students

procrastinate to a moderate extent. Though it may be viewed that students coming from different

courses are engaged in various levels of work difficulty, findings indicate that both groups of

students respond to their academic tasks to the same degree. Interestingly, both low and high

performing students also showed the same level of procrastination. Results of the study implies

that procrastination may not be significant factor in explaining the educational outcomes

opposite to other studies where procrastination was relevant to students’ achievement (Akinsola,

Tella and Tella, 2007; Popoola, 2005; and Balkis, Duru & Bulus, 2013).

International Journal of Education and Research Vol. 4 No. 4 April 2016 435 In terms of

academic self-efficacy, results of the study show that students with low perceived academic self-

efficacy were found to procrastinate more than those with high academic self-efficacy. This is

consistent with the findings of other studies which indicated that self-efficacy was a significant

behavioral construct in explaining procrastination behaviors of the students (Klassen, Krawchuck

& Rajani, 2008; Chow, 2011; Hajloo, 2014 & AlQudah, Alsubhien, & AL Heilat, 2014). The

self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1997) explains that self-beliefs or judgment of one’s ability

influences individuals’ achievement goals, task choices and level of persistence. Selfefficacy is

also a motivating drive for self-regulation to avoid distractions and develop strategies to facilitate

completion of tasks (Klassen, et al., 2008). Students with higher self-efficacy are more confident

with their skills and were able to transform this motivation into actions and respond positively to

various academic challenges. Conversely, those who lack competency beliefs may exhibit dislike

of academic activities which can lead to task avoidance or hinder completion of tasks.
 Chapter 3
Research Methodology and Procedure

The research instruments utilized, research techniques and designs, and respondents who

took part in the study are all displayed in this chapter.

Research Design

Descriptive research is the method to be used for this study. Collection of data about the

state of the subject of the study will be involved.The researchers will use the descriptive survey

type of research in assessing, analyzing and evaluating the perception of 4th year Criminology

students of Saint Ferdinand College. This method will help to determine the state of the act of

procrastination in the students of the said school.This method and structure deal with the

different variations of perception of the respondents for this study. It is also related on events that

happened and still happening until now supported by studies that were done before.

Research Locale

The study will be conducted at Saint Ferdinand College, Sta, Ana Street Centro, City of

Ilagan. Saint Ferdinand College was established in 1950 founded by the Knights of Columbus

Ilagan Council 3705. The Saint Ferdinand College is the only Catholic Educational Institution

located in Ilagan City, Isabela. It is one of the leading Educational Institutions in Isabela, Its

formal operation was in the school year 1951-1952 with classes offering from kindergarten to

college level. It also offers a kind of education that prepares the student for life. It provides every

student with moral and intellectual training in Christian atmosphere so that they may become

efficient and ready to play a dynamic role in the growth of the country.
For several years now, Saint Ferdinand College remains the center of scholarship admission of

the Ateneo de Manila University and University of the Philippines in Region 02. Being

recognized for its good facilities and competent staff, Saint Ferdinand College secured the

contest venue in the 1999 National School Press Conference on February 8-12, 1999.

Research Instrument

The research instrument that will be used in the conduct of this study is questionnaire.

The questionnaire is composed of two (2) parts: First, is where the researchers will obtain the

profile of the selected respondents where they are grouped according to gender. The second part

was the set of questions that are required to be answered by the respondents to collect the data

needed by the researchers for this study.

Data Gathering Procedure

The following procedures were undertaken by the researchers in accomplishing the study.

The researchers constructed a permission letter from the Dean to conduct the study and to float

questionnaires to the respondents. When permission was granted, the researchers set and

prepared the data to furnish and to conduct the floating of questionnaire to the respondents.

When copies of the questionnaires were ready for distribution, the researchers appealed for the

cooperation and assistance of each teacher to their students to answer the questions.

To attain assured honesty answers from the respondents, the researchers personally guided the

respondents.
Data Analysis Procedure

The data analysis is based on giving answers to the question which is also from the sub items

literature review. The researchers will analyze the data based on the given answer of the response

in the questionnaire. The answer can be strongly agree, agree, neutral/ undecided, disagree and

strongly disagree.

The weighted mean was interpreted using the arbitrary scale below:

Weighted Mean Descriptive Interpretation

1.00-1.79 STRONGLY DISAGREE
1.80-2.59 DISAGREE
2.60-3.39 NEUTRAL/UNDECIDED
3.40-4.19 AGREE
4.20-5.00 STRONGLY AGREE
Statistical Tool

Frequency and Percentage. The frequency and percentage distribution will be used to categorize

the respondents according to their gender in the first part of the research. The researchers used

the formula below:

Where:

P= Percentage

F= Frequency

N= No. Of Respondents

Weighted Mean. Another technique used by the researchers in the study was the weighted mean.

This was used in order to determine the average responses of the different options in the second

part of the questionnaire to analyze the data to the respondents’ degree of agreement. The

researchers used the formula below:

Where: WM= Weighted Mean

= the sum of all products of f and x being the frequency of each weight and x
as the weight of each operation.

Sample or the respondents

 The researchers will choose the 4th year Criminology students of Saint Ferdinand College

year 2023-2024 as the primary respondents. This 4th year Criminology students are divided into

4 sections.

The researchers will get 26 correspondents from each section of data gathering. The

researchers use them as correspondents for the research to know their perception towards

procrastination.
SECTION NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE
GA 26 25%
GB 26 25%
GC 26 25%
GD 26 25%
TOTAL 104 100%

QUESTIONNAIRE

Strongly Agree - 5

Agree - 4

Neutral/undecided - 3

Disagree - 2

Strongly Disagree - 1

1. I have difficulty deciding which task to start first.

2. If it is not good, it’s not good enough.

3. I always fail to meet deadlines.

4. I work best at the “last minute” when the pressure is really on.

5. I rarely get tasks accomplished on time.

6. I have difficulty making up my mind.

7. I feel overwhelmed by my daily tasks.

8. I avoid getting started on difficult tasks.

9. I often doubt myself.

10. I put off daily activities.

References

“(Source: http://coachmi.com.au/blog/2011/02/time-management-part-4-beating-
procrastination/
1
https://www.academia.edu

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323454

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-self-esteem-2795868