Cyberslacking and the Procrastination Superhighway

by Ryan | Jul 1, 2020 | Psychology of Productivity, Time Management

Cyberslacking and the Procrastination Superhighway

Jennifer A. A. Lavoie, Timothy A. Pychyl
Published 2001
Computer Science
Social Science Computer Review

Abstract

This study was designed to explore the extent to which time spent online was related to self reports of procrastination. A sample of 308 participants (Mean age = 29.4 years, SD = 12.0, 198 females) from various regions of North America completed a survey posted to the World Wide Web. Data collected included demographic information, attitudes toward the Internet, amount of time spent online (at home, work, and school), trait procrastination, and measures of positive and negative emotion. Results demonstrated that 50.7% of the respondents reported frequent Internet procrastination, and respondents spent 47% of online time procrastinating. Internet procrastination was positively correlated with perceiving the Internet as entertaining, a relief from stress, and paradoxically, as an important tool. Internet procrastination was also positively correlated with trait procrastination and negative emotions. Implications regarding Internet procrastination are discussed in relation to procrastination theory and research as well as Neil Postman’s critique of technology.

Jennifer A. A. Lavoie, Timothy A. Pychyl

First Published November 1, 2001 Research Article

Article Information

Volume: 19 issue: 4, page(s): 431-444

Issue published: November 1, 2001

Jennifer A. A. Lavoie

Simon Fraser University

Timothy A. Pychyl

Carleton University

Keywords Internet, procrastination, technology, volitional action, stress, coping

	Blunt, A. , & Pychyl, T. A. (1998). Volitional action and inaction in the lives of undergraduate students: State orientation, procrastination and proneness to boredom. Personality and Individual Differences, 24, 837–846. Google Scholar \| ISI
	Braziller, C. (March 22, 2000). Face of the Web study pegs global Internet population at more than 300 million [Online]. Retrieved March 22, 2000, from the World Wide Web: http://www.angusreid.com/media/content/displaypr.cfm?id_to_view=1001 Google Scholar
	Burka, J. B. , & Yuen, L. M. (1990, May/June). Procrastination: Causes and consequences. New Realities, 42–45. Google Scholar
	Coomber, R. (1997). Using the Internet for survey research. Sociological Research Online [Online serial], 2(2). Retrieved March 19, 2000, from the World Wide Web: http://www.socresonline.org.uk/2/2/2.html Google Scholar
	Diener, E. & Emmons, R. A. (1985). The independence of positive and negative affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 1105–1117. Google Scholar \| ISI
	Ellis, A. , & Knaus, W. J. (1977). Overcoming procrastination. New York: Penguin. Google Scholar
	Emmons, R. A. , & Diener, E. (1985). Personality correlates of subjective well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 11, 89–97. Google Scholar \| SAGE Journals \| ISI
	Emmons, R. A. , & Diener, E. (1986). A goal-affect analysis of everyday situational choices. Journal of Research Personality, 20, 309–326. Google Scholar \| ISI
	Evans, A. N. (1998). Using basic statistics in the social sciences (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Google Scholar
	Ferrari, J. R. (1989). Reliability of academic and dispositional measures of procrastination. Psychology Reports, 64, 1057–1058. Google Scholar \| SAGE Journals \| ISI
	Ferrari, J. R. (1992). Psychometric validation of two procrastination inventories for adults: Arousal and avoidance measures. Journal of Psychopathy and Behavioral Assessment, 14, 97–100. Google Scholar \| ISI
	Ferrari, J. R. , Johnson, J. L. , & McCown, W. G. (1995). Procrastination and task avoidance: Theory, research and treatment. New York: Plenum. Google Scholar
	Griffiths, M. (1998). Internet addiction: Does it really exist? In J. Gackenbach (Ed.), Psychology and the Internet: Intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal implications (pp. 61–75). San Diego, CA: Academic Press. Google Scholar
	Griffiths, M. (1999). Internet addiction. Psychologist, 12, 246–250. Google Scholar \| ISI
	Haycock, L. A. , McCarthy, P. , & Skay, C. L. (1998). Procrastination in college students: The role of self-efficacy and anxiety. Journal of Counseling and Development, 76, 317–324. Google Scholar \| ISI
	Huang, M. P. , & Alessi, N. E. (1997). Drs. Huang and Alessi reply. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 890. Google Scholar
	Knaus, W. J. (1973). Overcoming procrastination. Rational Living, 8, 2–7. Google Scholar
	Knaus, W. J. (1998). Do it now: How to stop procrastinating (Rev. ed.). New York: John Wiley. Google Scholar
	Knaus, W. J. (2000). Procrastination, blame and change [Special issue]. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 15, 153–166. Google Scholar
	Kraut, R. , Patterson, M. , Lundmark, V. , Kiesler, S. , Mukophadhyay, T. , & Scherlis, W. (1998). Internet paradox: A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being. American Psychologist, 53, 1017–1031. Google Scholar \| Medline \| ISI
	Lay, C. H. (1986). At last, my research article on procrastination. Journal of Research in Personality, 20, 474–495. Google Scholar \| ISI
	Lyman, P. (2000, January 10). PricewaterhouseCoopers study shows Canadians lead Europeans in Internet usage [Online]. Retrieved February 21, 2000, from the World Wide Web: http://www.pwcglobal.com/extweb/ncpressrelease.nsf/DocID/521DCDD66F5F0EFB852568600070234E Google Scholar
	Marron, K. (2000, January 20). Attack of the cyberslackers. The Globe and Mail, p. T5. Google Scholar
	Omedei, M. M. , & Wearing, A. J. (1990). Need satisfaction and involvement in personal projects: Toward an integrative model of subjective well being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 762–769. Google Scholar \| ISI
	Postman, N. (1985). Amusing ourselves to death: Public discourse in the age of show business. New York: Penguin. Google Scholar
	Postman, N. (1992). Technopoly: The surrender of culture to technology. New York: Vintage. Google Scholar
	Pychyl, T. A. , Lee, J. M. , Thibodeau, R. , & Blunt, A. (2000). Five days of emotion: An experience sampling study of undergraduate student procrastination [Special issue]. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 15, 239–254. Google Scholar
	Pychyl, T. A. , & Little, B. R. (1998). Dimensional specificity in the prediction of subjective well-being: Personal projects in pursuit of the Ph.D. Social Indicators Research, 45, 423–473. Google Scholar \| ISI
	Scruby, D. (1999, September 30). 1999 PricewaterhouseCoopers four country consumer technology survey [Online]. Available: http://www.pwcglobal.com/extweb/ncpressrelease.nsf/DocID/extweb/ncpressrelease.nsf/DocID/E08266B81BE91F9A852568010063B693?OpenDocument Google Scholar
	Silver, M. , & Sabini, J. (1981). Procrastinating. Journal of Theory of Social Behavior, 11, 201–221. Google Scholar \| ISI
	Stein, D. J. (1997). Internet addiction, Internet psychotherapy. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 890. Google Scholar
	Swadley, R. K. (Ed.). (1995). The Internet unleashed (2nd ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Sams-net. Google Scholar
	Wallace, P. M. (1999). The psychology of the Internet. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar
	Zamanpour, H. , & Pychyl, T. A. (2000, June 30). The cognitive-affective antecedents of avoidance achievement motivation and academic procrastination. Poster presented at the annual convention of the Canadian Psychological Association, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Google Scholar

The Distracted Mind – Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World

by Ryan | Jul 1, 2020 | Psychology of Productivity

The Distracted Mind

Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World

By Adam Gazzaley and Larry D. Rosen

Why our brains aren’t built for media multitasking, and how we can learn to live with technology in a more balanced way.

Winner, 2017 PROSE Awards, Biomedicine and Neuroscience category

Summary

Why our brains aren’t built for media multitasking, and how we can learn to live with technology in a more balanced way.

“Brilliant and practical, just what we need in these techno-human times.”—Jack Kornfield, author of The Wise Heart

Most of us will freely admit that we are obsessed with our devices. We pride ourselves on our ability to multitask—read work email, reply to a text, check Facebook, watch a video clip. Talk on the phone, send a text, drive a car. Enjoy family dinner with a glowing smartphone next to our plates. We can do it all, 24/7! Never mind the errors in the email, the near-miss on the road, and the unheard conversation at the table. In The Distracted Mind, Adam Gazzaley and Larry Rosen—a neuroscientist and a psychologist—explain why our brains aren’t built for multitasking, and suggest better ways to live in a high-tech world without giving up our modern technology.

The authors explain that our brains are limited in their ability to pay attention. We don’t really multitask but rather switch rapidly between tasks. Distractions and interruptions, often technology-related—referred to by the authors as “interference”—collide with our goal-setting abilities. We want to finish this paper/spreadsheet/sentence, but our phone signals an incoming message and we drop everything. Even without an alert, we decide that we “must” check in on social media immediately.

Gazzaley and Rosen offer practical strategies, backed by science, to fight distraction. We can change our brains with meditation, video games, and physical exercise; we can change our behavior by planning our accessibility and recognizing our anxiety about being out of touch even briefly. They don’t suggest that we give up our devices, but that we use them in a more balanced way.

AUTHORS

Adam Gazzaley

Adam Gazzaley is Professor in the Departments of Neurology, Physiology, and Psychiatry at the University of Calfornia, San Francisco, where he is also Founding Director of the Neuroscience Imaging Center, Neuroscape Lab, and the Gazzaley Lab. He is cofounder and Chief Science Advisor of Akili Interactive, a company developing therapeutic video games and cofounder and Chief Scientist of JAZZ Venture Partners, a venture capital firm investing in experiential technology to improve human performance. Recipient of the 2015 Society for Neuroscience Science Educator Award, he wrote and hosted the nationally televised PBS special “The Distracted Mind with Dr. Adam Gazzaley.”

Larry D. Rosen

Larry D. Rosen is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills. He is a blogger for Psychology Today and the author of iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession with Technology and Overcoming Its Hold on Us and six other books.