RESEARCH PAPER
Conceptual replication of Seo (2008), “Self-efficacy as a mediator in the relationship between self-oriented perfectionism and academic procrastination”
 
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Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Submission date: 2021-04-12
Final revision date: 2021-08-04
Acceptance date: 2021-09-13
Online publication date: 2021-12-12
Publication date: 2022-11-21
 
Current Issues in Personality Psychology 2022;10(2):98–111
 
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Self-oriented perfectionism is the tendency to set high standards for oneself and evaluate one’s behaviour accordingly. Based on a study of 692 students in Korea, Seo (2008) reported finding a negative relationship between self-oriented perfectionism and academic procrastination – i.e., the tendency to procrastinate on academic tasks. Furthermore, Seo reported that this relationship was completely mediated by self-efficacy. Seo’s study has been influential in the literature but to our knowledge has not yet been independently replicated. In this study we report a preregistered conceptual replication testing five hypotheses based on Seo’s key findings.

Material and methods:
A detailed preregistration (including data processing and analysis syntax) was lodged in advance of data collection at https://osf.io/xfvd8. Participants were 575 students recruited from OECD countries using prolific.co. Academic procrastination was measured via an adapted version of the Procrastination Assessment Scale – Students, while self-oriented perfectionism was measured via the 5-item self-oriented perfectionism subscale of the Big Three Perfectionism Scale. Self-efficacy was measured via the New General Self-Efficacy Scale. Both ordinary least squares regression and structural equation modelling were used to test hypotheses.

Results:
We found no evidence of a bivariate relationship between self-oriented perfectionism and academic procrastination in either set of analyses. However, we did find evidence of a small and negative indirect effect of self-oriented perfectionism on academic procrastination via self-efficacy.

Conclusions:
We were only able to partially replicate Seo’s key findings, having found no evidence of a negative relationship between self-oriented perfectionism and academic procrastination.

 
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