Personality and contextual predictors of career advancement procrastination: An application of the social cognitive model of career self-management

Abstract

This research explored procrastination in the context of career self-management, a construct that we refer to as career advancement procrastination (CAP). Drawing on the career self-management model extension of social cognitive career theory, we hypothesized that personality traits (i.e., trait passive procrastination and trait active procrastination) and contextual factors (i.e., career resources and career barriers) have effects on passive CAP and active CAP via career self-efficacy. Hypotheses were tested on a sample of employed Canadians in a two-wave study (N = 201). As predicted, we found that trait passive procrastination was positively related to passive CAP, trait active procrastination was positively related to active CAP, and career barriers were related to both passive CAP and active CAP. We also found positive indirect effects of trait passive procrastination and career barriers, and negative indirect effects of career resources, on both passive CAP and active CAP via career self-efficacy. Taken together, these findings suggest that companies can decrease CAP by helping employees curb their dispositional procrastination tendencies, as well as by reducing career barriers and increasing career resources, all of which should also aid in increasing employees' career self-efficacy.