Ferrari & Tice (2000): Procrastination as a Self-Handicap
Ferrari and Tice's 2000 experiments tested whether procrastination works as a self-handicap, a way of protecting your self-image by giving yourself an excuse to fail. Students were told they would be assessed on a maths task, then left for 15 minutes with a choice: practise, or play with puzzles and video games. When the task was framed as an important measure of cognitive ability, chronic procrastinators practised less and played more than non-procrastinators. When the identical maths task was framed as a fun game, that difference disappeared, which suggests the delay was about evaluation rather than about the task itself.
| Citation | Ferrari, J. R., & Tice, D. M. (2000). Procrastination as a self-handicap for men and women: A task-avoidance strategy in a laboratory setting. Journal of Research in Personality, 34(1), 73–83. |
|---|---|
| Study type | Two laboratory experiments manipulating how a practice task was framed |
| Sample | Study 1: 59 students (40 women, 19 men). Study 2: 88 students (48 women, 40 men) |
| Key finding | Chronic procrastinators withheld practice only under evaluative framing, and the effect held for both men and women |
What the study found
Participants completed a chronic procrastination scale in an earlier session, then attended the lab individually. They were told their performance on a maths task would be measured, and given 15 minutes in which they could practise the task or spend the time on enjoyable alternatives such as a video game or a puzzle. In the first study, where the task was presented as an important assessment of cognitive skills, participants spent roughly nine of their 15 minutes on the fun alternatives, and chronic procrastinators practised notably less than non-procrastinators. In the second study the same maths task was described as a fun game rather than a test, and the gap closed: procrastinators practised as much as everyone else. The pattern appeared in both men and women, which is why the paper is titled the way it is.
Why it matters
This is one of the cleanest demonstrations that procrastination is not simply about disliking work. The task was identical in both studies, so anything explained by difficulty or boredom should have shown up either way. What changed behaviour was whether performance would be judged, which supports the self-handicapping account: by not preparing, you keep a ready explanation for a poor result that does not implicate your ability. It also explains a familiar real-world pattern, where the avoided task is reliably the exposing one. People will happily reorganise notes, research tools or redesign a logo, and stall on submitting the essay, publishing the post or making the pitch.
Caveats
These are small student samples in a short laboratory episode, so the effect sizes should not be read as estimates of how much any individual delays in real life. Practice time is a narrow proxy for procrastination, and one that suits self-handicapping particularly well, so the design does not test the many delays that involve no audience at all. Self-handicapping is also one mechanism among several: task aversiveness, impulsiveness and distant deadlines all drive delay in situations where nobody is evaluating anything. The claim the study supports is that evaluation makes delay more likely, not that all procrastination is self-handicapping.
Peer-reviewed experimental study in the Journal of Research in Personality, widely cited in the procrastination and self-handicapping literature. Metadata verified via Crossref and Semantic Scholar.
Related
Self-handicapping explainedSolomon & Rothblum on fear of failure and task aversivenessProcrastinating on marketing your business
Frequently asked questions
Is procrastination a form of self-sabotage?
Sometimes, and this study shows one mechanism for it. Leaving yourself too little time creates a reason for a poor result that is about effort rather than ability, which protects your self-image. That is self-handicapping: it is not a conscious plan, and it is not the explanation for every delay, but it fits the common experience of avoiding precisely the tasks where you most want to do well.
Why do I avoid tasks I care about most?
Because caring is what makes the outcome feel like a judgement on you. In this study, the same maths task was avoided when it measured cognitive ability and not avoided when it was labelled a game. Lowering the stakes of a single work session, by treating a draft as disposable rather than definitive, targets exactly this mechanism.