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Article history: In recent years, we can observe the increasing popularity of Facebook. The main aim of our study was to
Received 6 June 2016 examine whether procrastination is associated with Facebook intrusion and intensity. The participants in
Received in revised form the study were 954 Facebook users aged between 18 and 58 years. We used the Facebook Intrusion
10 August 2016
Questionnaire, the Facebook Intensity Scale, the General Procrastination Scale, and the Decisional Pro-
Accepted 15 August 2016
crastination Scale. Our results indicate that general and decisional procrastination are significant pre-
dictors of Facebook intrusion and intensity. Also, females and young participants use Facebook more
intensely and are more likely to become addicted to Facebook.
Keywords:
Procrastination
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Facebook intrusion
Facebook intensity
1. Introduction and problematic Facebook use. Kuss and Griffiths (2011) underline
the importance of the in-depth study of the issue of Facebook
Have you logged into Facebook today? If so, you belong to the addiction in order to determine its comorbidity and to identify
community of 1 billion users of this social networking site. Many specific patterns of developing this kind of addiction.
people start their day holding a coffee cup in one hand and busily Based on the body of literature on Facebook (e.g., Blachnio,
browsing Facebook or posting daily news with the other. Since it Przepiorka, & Rudnicka, 2013; Jenkins-Guarnieri, Wright, &
was launched in 2004, Facebook has become a global phenomenon Hudiburgh, 2012; Moore & McElroy, 2012; Seidman, 2012), a
and continues to beat records of popularity (Vasalou, Joinson, & psychological profile of Facebook users can be sketched. For
Courvoisier, 2010). Thanks to its many applications, Facebook pro- instance, Facebook users are characterized by a high level of ex-
vides a kind of platform for communication and information traversion as well as lower levels of conscientiousness and social
sharing; it allows people to maintain existing relationships or start isolation compared to non-users (Ryan & Xenos, 2011). A positive
new ones, publish and view photos, or participate in discussions relationship has also been found between agreeableness and
(Brandtzæg & Heim, 2009; Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007; Park, Facebook use (Moore & McElroy, 2012; Seidman, 2012). Other
Kee, & Valenzuela, 2009). Facebook creates a new virtual reality personality traits positively related to Facebook use include
that so many people are part of, regardless of culture, nationality, or neuroticism (Ross et al., 2009), shyness (Orr et al., 2009), or
religion. The negative aspect of this social phenomenon is the narcissism (Bergman, Fearrington, Davenport, & Bergman, 2011;
danger of problematic use of or even becoming addicted to Face- Mehdizadeh, 2010).
book. It is a fact that there is an increasing number of people who One of the characteristics that have not been analyzed in rela-
use social networks in problematic ways, which puts them at risk of tion to Facebook use is procrastination. Procrastination is concep-
becoming Internet addicts (see Kuss, Griffiths, Karila, & Billieux, tualized as postponing some actions crucial to the timely
2014). Considering its huge impact on social life, it is worth completion of assignments (Lay, 1986) e that is, purposive and
exploring this issue further in order to determine the characteris- frequent delay in beginning or completing a task to the point of
tics of Facebook users who might be particularly prone to excessive experiencing subjective discomfort (Schouwenburg, Lay, Pychyl, &
Ferrari, 2004). People who procrastinate do not work on a task
and, as a result, they “feel bad” (anxiety, regret) due to their
* Corresponding author. delaying tactics.
E-mail address: juanfcodiaz@psi.ucm.es (J.F. Díaz-Morales).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.08.022
0747-5632/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
60 A. Przepiorka et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 65 (2016) 59e64
Those who procrastinate suffer from social and psychological Facebook use and procrastination.
repercussions (Ferrari, 2010; Steel, 2011). The literature on this Alternatively, procrastination can be measured from a behav-
subject shows that the problem of procrastination especially affects ioral perspective using the General Procrastination Scale (GP; Lay,
young people. Academic procrastination is frequently reported 1986), developed to assess the frequency with which people
among students. Among adults, there is constant pressure on postpone performing everyday behavioral tasks or activities, or
people to be effective at work and to manage time efficiently. This using a cognitive measure, namely, the Decisional Procrastination
behavior was found to be related to higher depression, anxiety, and Scale (DP; Mann, 1982). Although decisional and general procras-
stress and to lower satisfaction with life (Aziz & Tariq, 2013). In the tination are related behaviors, some researchers observed subtle
work context, procrastinators had lower salaries, were employed differences between them. Decisional procrastination is more
for a shorter duration, and were more likely to be unemployed situationally specific and related to the context of postponing the
(Nguyen, Steel, & Ferrari, 2013). decision, whereas general procrastination is an example of behav-
Procrastination is also typically viewed as volitional e that is, as ioral procrastination (Anderson, 2003; Ferrari & Emmons, 1994)
involving the voluntary choice of one behavior or task over and is understood as the frequency with which people postpone
competing options (Ferrari & Pychyl, 2000). In this perspective, performing everyday behavioral tasks or activities. The cognitive
excessive Facebook use could be a distraction from accomplishing type of procrastination (indecision) has been defined as purposive
planned tasks, increasing the tendency to put off until tomorrow delay in making decisions within some specific time frame (Díaz-
what one should do today (procrastination). The question arises of Morales & Ferrari, 2015). Indecision can drive chronic behavioral
whether individuals who have a tendency to procrastinate spend procrastinators to create excuses to justify why they do not focus on
more time on Facebook and are at a higher risk of developing the target behavior. If you are a procrastinator, the delay seems
Facebook addiction. logical and justifiable; however, from an external point of view it is
The findings on the associations between procrastination and irrational and can damage other people's perception of you (Ferrari,
problematic Internet use are scarce and those already published are 2010).
rather contradictory. On the one hand, Odaci (2011) showed that To support the assumption about the distinct character of
there was no statistically significant association between prob- decisional procrastination and general procrastination, Tibbett and
lematic Internet use and academic procrastination. On the other Ferrari (2015) outlined different psychological portraits of these
hand, Thatcher, Wretschko, and Fridjhon (2008) presented the re- two types. For instance, indecision was related to strong neuroti-
sults of a study on a sample of 1399 Internet users revealing a cism and moderate introversion, whereas generalized procrasti-
relationship between problematic Internet use and online pro- nation was strongly associated with unconscientiousness and
crastination measured with the Distraction subscale of the Online weakly with neuroticism. Moreover, Díaz-Morales, Ferrari, and
Cognition Scale (OCS; Davis, Flett, & Besser, 2002). The lack of Cohen (2008) found that morningness was negatively related to
consistency in these results may stem from cultural differences behavioral, but not to decisional procrastination. Overall, the re-
and/or from different instruments used to measure both prob- sults indicated different temporal profiles of indecision and
lematic Facebook use and procrastination. In the present study, the behavioral procrastination. Behavioral procrastination related to
term “Facebook intrusion” is used interchangeably with the term low future time orientation and low morningness, whereas inde-
“Facebook addiction.” These two concepts are strongly interrelated: cision related to both high negative and high positive past as well as
both point to excessive involvement in Facebook (Elphinston & to low present-hedonistic and low future time orientations.
Noller, 2011). Both Facebook intrusion and Facebook addiction are Therefore, it appears that distinct forms of procrastination can be
constructs that involve a lack of control over time, experiencing differentiated based on time perspectives.
negative consequences because of excessive Facebook use, and in- Considering the consequences of Facebook addiction, this
ner pressure to use Facebook despite its detrimental effect on one's question is of great importance for mental and physical health. The
life. A large body of research on Facebook intrusion has revealed main aim of the present study was to explore the relationship be-
negative aspects of this kind of problematic Facebook use inter- tween behavioral procrastination, cognitive procrastination, Face-
fering with daily activity and relationship functioning. For instance, book intensity, and Facebook intrusion. Facebook intensity and
Facebook intrusion was positively related to depression (Blachnio, Facebook intrusion are two closely related constructs. Facebook
Przepiorka, & Pantic, 2015), low self-control (Blachnio & intrusion includes such aspects as “withdrawal (distress related to
Przepiorka, 2016a), low level of conscientiousness, emotional sta- an inability to access Facebook), relapse and reinstatement (efforts
bility, openness, low positive orientation (Blachnio & Przepiorka, to reduce Facebook use that have been unsuccessful), and euphoria
2016b), or high level of loneliness (Blachnio, Przepiorka, Boruch, (feeling connected to others when using Facebook)” (Elphinston &
& Bałakier, 2016). Noller, 2011, p. 631). Facebook intensity relates not only to the
Regarding demographic variables, sex and age are related to frequency and duration of its use, but also to the emotional attitude
different patterns of Facebook use. The participant's age is a very towards this site and its integration with its users' daily life (Ellison
important determinant of these patterns, since old people tend to et al., 2007). Higher Facebook intensity has been found to be
use social networks less frequently and are generally “less depen- positively related to Facebook addiction (Blachnio, Przepiorka, &
dent” on online activities. For instance, females have been found to Pantic, 2016). The more one uses Facebook, the more prone one is
spend more time on Facebook, to have more Facebook friends, and to develop the addiction. Facebook intensity includes the number
to be more likely to use profile pictures for impression manage- of Facebook friends and the amount of time spent using Facebook.
ment. Women and older people have been found to be more Facebook use may be a more general term that reflects users'
engaged in online family activity (McAndrew & Jeong, 2012). Young behavior on Facebook. A high level of Facebook intrusion and
people tend to spend more time on Facebook and have more Facebook intensity can be labeled as problematic Facebook use. Like
Facebook friends than older users (Murphy, 2013). A recent study problematic Internet use (cf. Iacovelli & Valenti, 2009), problematic
revealed that adolescents are the group that discloses the most Facebook use may be indicative of addictive tendency. To our best
private information on Facebook (Błachnio, Przepiorka, Bałakier, & knowledge, this is the first study to investigate these associations.
Boruch, 2016). In the light of these differences between age and sex Based on the literature on procrastination, we assumed that those
groups, it would be interesting to include these variables in ana- who have a tendency to procrastinate will be more prone to intense
lyses and to investigate their role in the relationship between Facebook use and Facebook intrusion.
A. Przepiorka et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 65 (2016) 59e64 61
2.2. Procedure The main aim of this study was to examine the relationship
between Facebook use and procrastination. As we predicted, the
The participants were recruited using the snowball procedure. findings demonstrate that procrastinators use Facebook more
University students were invited during classes to take part in the intensely and are more prone to Facebook intrusion. As predicted,
online survey as well as to post a link on their Facebook walls and decisional and general procrastination were predictors of Facebook
invite their friends to complete the questionnaires. We used the intensity and Facebook intrusion. Age and sex were also related to
electronic version of the questionnaires, made with Google Docs. Facebook use. Being a female and a young user combined with
The questionnaires were presented in the following order. First, we decisional procrastination puts you at risk of excessive Facebook
introduced questions concerning Facebook, as the general aim of use. Interaction between sex, age, and general procrastination was
the study was to get to know the relations between the partici- not significant. In general, this is in line with other studies, where
pants' Facebook use and different behaviors. The second part was there were no significant sex differences in behavioral procrasti-
questionnaires about procrastination. In the third part, we asked nation measured using GP (e.g., Ferrari, Ozer, & Demir, 2009).
about demographic information. This procedure and the order had People who have a tendency to procrastinate more often use
been used before in other studies, yielding reliable results (e.g., Facebook in an excessive way. Considering that Facebook is treated
Blachnio, Przepiorka, & Díaz-Morales, 2015). as a form of entertainment and stress relief, it can become an
escape for procrastinations who experience some negative conse-
2.3. Participants quences of their inability to manage their time. A recent study by
Meier, Reinecke, and Meltzer (2016) showed that low trait self-
A total of 954 participants (64.2% of them female) aged from 18 control, habitual Facebook checking, and high enjoyment of Face-
to 58 years (M ¼ 20.84 years, SD ¼ 4.75) completed the book predicted Facebook procrastination. The authors adjusted the
62 A. Przepiorka et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 65 (2016) 59e64
Table 1
Descriptive statistics and correlations between variables for the whole sample (N ¼ 954).
Min Max M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6
Table 2
Regression analyses of the prediction of Facebook intensity and intrusion by GP.
R2 R2 change DF b R2 R2 change DF b
1 Sex 0.090 0.092 52.200*** 0.166*** 0.042 0.044 23.826*** 0.130***
Age 0.243*** 0.157***
2 Sex 0.128 0.038 45.465*** 0.172*** 0.128 0.086 101.782*** 0.139***
Age 0.219*** 0.121***
GP 0.198*** 0.296***
3 Sex 0.128 0.002 0.921 0.169*** 0.129 0.003 1.626 0.136***
Age 0.235*** 0.133***
GP 0.351* 0.405**
GP*Sex 0.013 0.043
GP*Age 0.165 0.128
4 Sex 0.127 0.000 0.000 0.169*** 0.129 0.001 1.018 0.139***
Age 0.235*** 0.131***
GP 0.352* 0.429***
GP*Sex 0.013 0.038
GP*Age 0.165 0.150
GP*Sex*Age 0.001 0.031
*
p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001.
Note. Facebook intensity or Facebook intrusion e criterion variable; Sex (1 ¼ woman, 1 ¼ man), Age, GP (mean score) e predictors.
Table 3
Regression analyses of the prediction of Facebook intensity and intrusion by DP.
R 2 2
R change DF b R2 R2 change DF b
*** ***
1 Sex 0.087 0.089 49.916 0.167 0.040 0.042 22.294*** 0.129***
Age 0.236*** 0.150***
2 Sex 0.115 0.029 33.896*** 0.165*** 0.124 0.085 99.144*** 0.125***
Age 0.223*** 0.127***
DP 0.171*** 0.292***
3 Sex 0.116 0.003 1.693 0.165*** 0.131 0.009 5.186** 0.125***
Age 0.239*** 0.142***
DP 0.352** 0.426***
DP*Sex 0.027 0.085*
DP*Age 0.195 0.165
4 Sex 0.121 0.005 6.360* 0.170*** 0.138 0.008 10.100** 0.131***
Age 0.249*** 0.154***
DP 0.405** 0.492***
DP*Sex 0.016 0.072*
DP*Age 0.242 0.223
DP*Sex*Age 0.076** 0.095**
*
p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001.
Note. Facebook intensity or intrusione criterion variable; Sex (1 ¼ woman, 1 ¼ man), Age, DP (mean score) e predictors.
measure to the Facebook context, and the participants assessed the rebel against others (Ferrari & Pychyl, 2000). Recent research has
frequency of Facebook procrastination by thinking about their shown that higher procrastination tends to be related to a higher
Facebook use in the last half-year when working at a computer. Lay level of eveningness (Digdon & Howell, 2008), and eveningness is
(1986) claimed that procrastination is a function of the gap be- in turn related to Facebook addiction (Blachnio, Przepiorka, & Díaz-
tween intention and behavior: procrastinators fail to move forward Morales, 2015). Also, some studies show that those who use Face-
with their intentions. When people fail to “mind the gap” and do book more intensely tend to cope with stress less adaptively and
not realize their goals, they can make up different logical reasons, use avoidance and emotional strategies more often (Blachnio,
excuses, or regrets as well as engage in self-sabotage actions or Przepiorka, & Czuczwar, in review). Further studies could analyze
A. Przepiorka et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 65 (2016) 59e64 63
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