Effects of academic self-efficacy and future orientation on procrastinating behavior in Italian university students

Promoting academic self-efficacy is crucial for improving resilience and future orientation (Cassidy, 2015; Bozzato, 2024), as well as for reducing procrastinating behavior (Liu et alii, 2020), even if the relationship between these three phenomena has not yet been investigated in a university context. This study explored the effects of academic self-efficacy and future orientation on procrastination in 230 Italian university students randomly recruited at the Department of Educational Sciences, University of Catania, Sicily. We used three measures: Design my Future (Santilli et alii, 2015), Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (Sagone & De Caroli, 2014), and General Procrastination Scale (Mariani, 2009). Results showed that all dimensions of academic self-efficacy were positively correlated (all for p<.001) with future orientation (self-engagement: r=.56; self-oriented decision making: r=.58; others-oriented problem: r=.46; interpersonal climate: r=.45) and resilience (self-engagement: r=.61; self-oriented decision making: r=.67; others-oriented problem: r=.56; interpersonal climate: r=.38); conversely, procrastinating behaviors were negatively correlated (all for p<.001) with future orientation (r=-.39), resilience (r=-.46), and all dimensions of academic self-efficacy (self-engagement: r=-.49; self-oriented decision making: r=-.47; other-oriented problem: r=-.35; interpersonal climate: r=-.26). Additionally, linear regression analyses indicated that higher academic self-efficacy (self-engagement: β=-.320, t=-3.89 and self-oriented decision making: β=-.237, t=-2.87) had positive effects on the reduction of procrastinating behavior (R²=.269, R² adj=.263, SE=11.29, F=41.76, p<.001); higher academic self-efficacy (self-engagement: β=.336, t=-4.50, interpersonal climate: β=-.202, t=3.43, and self-oriented decision making: β=-.220, t=2.85) had positive effects on future orientation (R²=.411, R² adj=.403, SE=6.42, F=52.50, p<.001); and, finally, higher academic self-efficacy (self-engagement: β=.386, t=5.35, others-oriented problem solving: β=-.220, t=3.72 and self-oriented decision making: β=.207, t=2.98) had positive effects on resilience (R²=.505, R² adj=.498, SE=3.77, F=76.71, p<.001). Results showed a strong impact of self-efficacy in the academic context on resilience, procrastination, and orientation to the future in university students and suggested to test mediation models; interventions about academic self-efficacy could be useful to improve ability to resist in stressful events in an academic context in a life span orientation.