Metacognitive Beliefs About Procrastination: Development and Concurrent Validity of a Self-Report Questionnaire

This article describes the development of a questionnaire on metacognitive beliefs about procrastination. In Study 1 we performed a principal axis factor analysis that suggested a two-factor solution for the data obtained from the preliminary questionnaire. The factors identified were named positive and negative metacognitive beliefs about procrastination. The factor analysis reduced the questionnaire from 22 to 16 items, with each factor consisting of 8 items. In Study 2 we performed a confirmatory factor analysis that provided support for the two-factor solution suggested by the exploratory factor analysis. Both factors had adequate internal consistency. Concurrent validity was partially established through correlation analyses. These showed that positive metacognitive beliefs about procrastination were positively correlated with decisional procrastination, and that negative metacognitive beliefs about procrastination were positively correlated with both decisional and behavioral procrastination. The Metacognitive Beliefs About Procrastination Questionnaire may aid future research into procrastination and facilitate clinical assessment and case formulation.