Thomas P. Petzel

An experimental study of some hypothesized behaviors and personality variables of college student procrastinators

Abstract Aitkens Procrastination Inventory was administered to 200 college students. Scores were correlated with extraversion and neuroticism scores of the revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Procrastination was positively correlated with extraversion and curvilinearly related to neuroticism. Forty procrastinators and nonprocrastinators were further tested. Procrastinators showed a significant tendency to underestimate the time needed to complete a reading task. They also showed a preference for beginning a task by performing the simpler portions first. Treatment and theoretical implications are discussed.

Procrastination, a principal components analysis

Abstract Procrastination is a serious, though poorly understood problem. The present study examines personality and time usage variables in a population of university student procrastinators. The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, revised, Beck Depression Inventory, Jenkins Activity Survey, and three time usage measures constructed by the authors were administered to 227 chronic academic procrastinators. Three principal components were found, suggesting orthogonal personality variables associated with different types of procrastination. These findings are discussed in terms of the EPQ paradigm and treatment for procrastinators.

Recall of importance ratings of completed and uncompleted tasks as a function of depression

The primary purpose of this study was the evaluation of the effects of successful completion of tasks versus failure in completion of tasks on the subsequent recall of these tasks by depressed and nondepressed college students. Also of interest was the relative importance these students would assign to these completed and uncompleted tasks. Subjects were asked to complete 20 paper-and-pencil tasks, 10 of which were terminated by the experimenter prior to completion. Subjects were then asked to recall as many of the tasks as possible and then to rate each task as to the relative importance of the skill(s) measured in the task. Depressed subjects recalled more uncompleted tasks than completed tasks, while the reverse was observed in nondepressed subjects. These findings were interpreted as consistent with, but extensions of, research on recall of frequency of reinforcement. Nondepressed subjects, but not depressed subjects, also rated the completed tasks as measuring more important skills than the uncompleted tasks. These results were seen as suggestive of the utilization of self-enhancing distortions by nondepressed but not by depressed subjects.

Attributions of Shy Persons in Affiliation and Achievement Situations

ABSTRACT Because research has identified cognitive patterns in shy or socially anxious persons similar to those observed in depression, this study examined the relation of two measures of shyness with a measure of attributional style used in depression research. Seventy-six subjects took the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ; Seligman, Abramson, Semmel, & Von Baeyer, 1979), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, 1967), the Social Anxiety and Distress (SAD; Watson & Friend, 1969) scale, and the Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE; Watson & Friend) scale. Correlations are presented for each of the latter three measures with the ASQ. Partial correlations are also reported with depression removed. Attributional patterns in shyness were found to overlap those reported for depressives. The pattern of correlations indicates that the measures of social anxiety (SAD or FNE) interact with type of situation (affiliation or achievement). A principle components analysis of the scores supported the validity of the...

Divergent validity evidence for Eckblad and Chapman's Hypomanic Personality Scale.

Subsequent to final examinations, Eckblad and Chapmans Hypomanic Personality Scale was given to 115 students; the STAI and the Cognitive Interference Questionnaire also were administered. Analysis found that the Hypomanic Personality Scale shows divergence from the measures of anxiety and cognitive interference despite the fact that convergence has been found on other scales of hypomania. In addition, males scored significantly higher than females on the scale. There was no significant relation of the Hypomanic Scale with examination performance.

Effects of anxiety and depression on anagram performance, ratings of cognitive interference, and the negative subjective evaluation of performance

Studied whether any differential effects of anxiety and depression could be discerned in the anagram performance, ratings of cognitive interference, and subjective evaluation of anagram performance displayed by college students. Seventy-two undergraduates (36 male, 36 female) were selected to participate in the present experiment on the basis of their scores on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (A-Trait) and/or the Beck Depression Inventory. Results showed that depressed-anxious and anxious Ss displayed a tendency toward reduced efficiency in anagram solution, rated themselves as having experienced significantly more cognitive interference during the anagram task, and displayed a significantly more negative subjective evaluation of their anagram performance than did control Ss. Quasi-F analyses revealed that these results were related significantly to the anxiety factor common to both depressed-anxious and anxious Ss. Implications of these results for future research on anxiety and depression were discussed.

The effects of ego-involvement and task difficulty on actual and perceived performance of depressed college students†

Determined whether situational manipulations of personal investment/threat influence the actual and perceived performance of depressed college students on a problem-solving task. Ss were 48 undergraduate students selected on the basis of scores on the MMPI D-scale. Ss within each level of depression were assigned randomly to either ego-involvement or task-involvement conditions. Involvement was manipulated through (a) instructions given to Ss; (b) method of data identification used; and (c) E interaction with a confederate who posed as a S. Within each condition of involvement, Ss were assigned randomly to unscramble either four- or six-letter anagrams. Results showed that in the difficult task-ego-involvement condition, the high depressed Ss made significantly more negative subjective appraisals of their performance than did the low depressed. These groups did not differ from each other under other conditions. It was concluded that depressives are most likely to evaluate negatively their performance in situations that present a challenge and/or threat to them and in which they may have some personal investment.

Peer Nominations for Leadership and Likability in Problem-Solving Groups as a Function of Gender and Task

Abstract The relation of situational variables and gender to leadership selection and likability ratings was examined. Six mixed-gender groups of American students were given either an impersonal or personal task. There were measurements of frequency of speaking, leadership nominations, and likability ratings by group members. No significant differences in task performance associated with gender were found, but, consistent with traditional sex roles, in impersonal groups male students spoke more and were selected as leaders and most important contributors more frequently than were female students. The reverse was found for personal groups, in which women spoke more, were chosen as leaders more often, and received higher contribution rankings. Likability ratings were not as strongly determined by context: Female students were selected more frequently as most likable in both groups.

Phenomenological perceptions of parental evaluations in depressed and nondepressed college students

Examined three hypothesis shared in common by several contemporary theoreticians of depression: (1) depressogenic parents maintain unrealistically high ideals for their offspring; (2) depressogenic parents negatively evaluate these offspring; (3) depressive offspring show lowered self-evaluations. Phenomenological perceptions of parental ideals and attitudes were reported by depressed and nondepressed college students (N = 48). These data supported the latter two hypotheses, but not the first. Results are discussed in terms of interpersonal attraction theory as well as in terms of a possible model of mutual influencability in the family interactions of depressives.

Behavior of depressed subjects in problem solving groups

Abstract This study investigated leadership selection in groups in relation to level of depression of group members. On the basis of MMPI-D and DACL scores 66 subjects were organized into groups of six to eight people consisting of all depressed, all nondepressed, or half depressed and half nondepressed subjects. Subjects performed a problem solving task alone and in groups and completed a questionnaire on leadership choice and group performance. Results indicate that nondepressed group members talked more frequently, were rated as more important contributors, and were selected as leaders more frequently than depressed members. In addition, mixed groups were perceived as more efficient and enjoyable by group members than the unmixed groups. There were no significant differences between depressed and nondepressed subjects on performance of the problem solving task whether working alone or in groups. Results were discussed in relation to other literature on the interpersonal behavior of depressed persons.