| REPORTED STRESS |
Procrastinators
|
Non-procrastinators |
| Beginning of the semester | Fewer reports of feelings of stress | Higher reports of stress |
| Late in the Semester |
Higher reports of stress- Extremely high anxiety levels |
Lower reports of stress and anxiety |
| REPORTED HEALTH |
Procrastinators
|
Non-procrastinators
|
| Beginning of the semester | Fewer symptoms of physical illness; fewer trips to student infirmary | Slighty higher reports of symptoms of physical illness |
| Late in the semester | Higher reports of symptoms of physical illness; higher incidence of trips to the infirmary | Fewer reports of symptoms of physical illness |
(Tice and Baumiester, 1997)
Not only were these results found, but also procrastinators received significantly lower grades than non-procrastinators on tasks in this study did. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? The results from this study are representative of one college population, and therefore you may not feel they pertain to you, but the general message from these results is that not planning ahead leads to high levels of stress and anxiety during the end of the semester, resulting in sickness and poorer performance on the task. SO PLAN AHEAD! Get things done and your body may thank you. In fact, your overall health may thank youÉ. HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO HEALTH BEHAVIOR? Suggested implications from findings by Tice & Baumiester answer this question with considerable logic. They see procrastination as "a self-defeating behavior, because it apparently leads to stress, illness, and inferior performance. It corresponds to the pattern of short-term gains and long-term costs, which is a common feature of self-defeating behaviors" (Baumeister, 1997; Baumeister & Scher, 1988; Loewenstein & Elster, 1992; Platt, 1973).
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