Abstract: The purpose of this study is to explore the moderating effects of (1) preference of pressure and (2) task type on the relationship between procrastination and performance. Procrastination represents individual’s behavior of delaying and postponing their action and effort toward completing certain tasks. In general, procrastination tends to lead to lower performance, but recent research implies that their relationship is contingent upon a number of contextual and individual factors. This paper advances current research on procrastination by incorporating both individual and contextual factors in analyzing procrastination’s effects. Specifically, some individuals may prefer pressure when performing tasks, making their performance less impacted by procrastination. Thus, we hypothesize that procrastination will lead to more negative effects on performance for individuals who dislike pressures than to individuals who prefer pressures. Following the traditional person-situation fit perspective, different degrees of procrastination’s impact on performance are also proposed when completing different types of tasks. Specifically, we hypothesize that procrastination may influence performance for simple tasks more greatly than for complex tasks for pressure-preferring individuals. Survey data obtained from 155 participants were used to test the theoretical analyses. These participants responded to questions regarding their pressure preference, their tendency of procrastinate at work, as well as their self-reported performance evaluations when completing simple and complex tasks. All survey questions were designed according to previously validated studies. Hierarchical regression approaches were adopted to analyze the data. The study found a number of important results. First, individual differences in pressure preference moderates the relationship between procrastination and performance: compared to workers preferring pressure, the ones who dislike pressure reported lower levels of performance if they procrastinate. Second, the task characteristic further moderates the relationship between procrastination, individual preference of pressure, and performance: in completing a complex task, the effect of procrastination on performance is smaller for the workers preferring pressure than for those disliking pressure; however, in completing a simple task, the difference between the two kinds of workers is not significant—both workers disliking pressures and preferring pressures tend to obtain lower performance if they procrastinate. In conclusion, preference of pressure could ameliorate the effect of procrastination on performance, and the moderating effect will be stronger when completing a complex task. For individuals disliking pressure, their performance will be worse for simple and complex tasks. The results were consistent with theoretical analyses that the effects of procrastination on performance are contingent upon both individual and situational factors. This study contributes to the study of procrastination’s effect. Specifically, the effect that procrastination has on performance depends on the individual factor of preference of pressure and the contextual factor of task type. Managers of different types of workers and different types of jobs can facilitate their management of working schedules informed by these results.

Key words: Procrastination, Pressure Preference, Task Type, Performance

摘要： 本研究探索了压力偏好和任务类型在拖延行为对绩效产生作用过程中的调节作用。用问卷调查的方法对155人进行调查。结果发现：相比偏好压力者，厌恶压力者的工作绩效更容易受到拖延行为的影响；对于复杂任务，拖延对偏好压力者的绩效影响显著低于对厌恶压力者；而对于简单任务，两种类型人的绩效的差别并不明显。结论是，偏好压力者能够减弱拖延行为对其工作绩效的影响，尤其对于复杂任务，这种影响更加明显。

关键词: 拖延, 压力偏好, 任务类型, 绩效