Thornock 1

Beighley Thornock
Ms. Ingram
UWRT 1104-034
7 October 2016

Annotated Bibliography: What Causes Procrastinators to Procrastinate?

SOURCE

ANNOTATION

Maisel, Eric R.
"What Do We
Mean by
'Normal'?"
Psychology
Today. 15
Nov. 2011.
Web. 21 Sept.
2016.

This article is concerned more on how

normal is defined psychologically in the
medical field. Maisel begins the article by
saying it cant be and must not be a mere
statistical nicety, meaning that the concept of
normal cannot be based on circumstance or
where one lives (Maisel). After this, he makes
good points by contrasting how society
mistakes healthy as normal and
unhealthy as abnormal. He begins to tie
in mental health to the concept of healthy
versus unhealthy which consequently
affects the concept of normal versus
abnormal. The one mental issue he
addresses most is PTSD, saying that it can be
proof of ones conscience, proving the fact
that they are healthy. Because humans have
emotional responses to things does not mean
that they are not normal according to Maisel
as he begins to close his article. He makes the
point in the end that businesses take advantage
and are built upon the concept of normal,
making it harder to change overall.

THOUGHTS/CON
NECTIONS
What are normal and
abnormal practices?
Are certain
abnormal practices
unhealthy? Do they
pose a threat to this
persons health?
Are certain normal
practices unhealthy?
Both normal and
abnormal are not
always healthy or
unhealthy.
Businesses take
advantage of normal

Thornock 2
Perry, John.
"What Is
Normal."
Philosophy
Talk. Ben
Manilla
Productions,
Inc., 27 Nov.
2015. Web. 21
Sept. 2016.

Mr. Perry takes a different side on this debate

since he is looking through a different lens.
This is the lens of philosophy. He begins by
describing what normal is actually defined
as in the dictionary and talks about synonyms
of the word. Normal seems to be based on
social norms, which makes sense because it
was defined as conforming to a type or
standard (Perry). There are certain times
when normal can not fit a certain standard,
however. Perry uses the example of when a
doctor says he has normal blood pressure.
He asks if it means average, and people on
the average have a health blood-pressure or if
it refers to something else (Perry). In the
conclusion, he ties everything back to
abnormal psychology and mental health and
asks how are the norms for mental health
related to the norms for clear and logical
thinking as his final words (Perry).

Normal: conforming to
a standard; usual,
typical, or expected

Wynn,
Jonathan. "Are
You Normal or
Are You
WEIRD?"
Everyday
Sociology
Blog. W.W.
Norton and
Company, Inc.,
11 Mar. 2013.
Web. 21 Sept.
2016.

Wynn begins with an anecdote about a book

he read once talking about how, statistically,
what was normal. He is a sociologist, and as
such they believe that the concept of normal
is socially constructed and malleable from
time to time and it is also context-based
(Wynn). Social scientists have only decided
to focus on one small part of the human
population, which is what is to be considered
as Western Society. There is actually an
acronym used called W.E.I.R.D. which
stands for Western, Educated, Industrialized,
Rich, Democratic people which is made to
prove a point that the people that are studied
do not make up most of the world (Wynn).
He points out that sociologists do not really
focus on what is considered normal in other

Is normal decided by
western society?

Are there instances

where normal is
unexpected behavior?
How does this tie in to
mental health versus
physical health?

Why have sociologists

decided to focus their
attention on mainly
western society?

W.E.I.R.D. is
normal
(Ironic Acronym)

Thornock 3
cultures across the globe, something that could
make the statistics more accurate. He ends
with a paragraph of questions, one being if
WEIRDians design research how might that
shape the outcomes? (Wynn). This solidifies
his point while leaving the reader with more
questions about how the western world shapes
its lens on which it views other societies.
Neuman,
Fredric.
"Determining
What Is
Normal
Behavior and
What Is Not."
Psychology
Today. 1 May
2013. Web. 21
Sept. 2016.

Beswick, G.,
Rothblum

Doctor Neumans perspective is one of

medical and psychological background. He
focuses mainly on mental illnesses and begins
by comparing how they are understood in
comparison to a physical illness. Because it
cannot be seen, a mental illness is treated
differently than a physical illness because it is
hard to truly notice the difference between
normal and abnormal behavior. According to
Neuman, the symptoms of mental illness are
embedded in, and grow out of, the normal
personality (Neuman). He states three
different reasons on how someone can deviate
from the normal: First, a normal behavior
might be part of a larger, abnormal pattern or
process. Second, those who are significantly
different from others can be under a different
level of stress, excluding them from society.
Lastly, everyone is unique, and because of
that, they will be the most like themselves
when they exhibit characteristics that are
different from others (Neuman). Neuman
ends the article by saying that mental health
inhibits the process of growing and,
consequently, being normal and hopes to
see a better distinction between those who are
mentally ill and those who are normal.
This was a study done by these three scholars
were to prove different effects and

The western world

shapes its own lens on
how it sees other
societies even though
it is such a small part.

People with mental

illness probably do not
think that they are
normal, which helps
keep them on a
spiraling path of never
ending sorrow and
depression.

Some people do not

realize what they are
doing is not typically
normal.

Normal is subjective to
every individual and
their own experiences.

I agree that indecision

can be a way to cope

Thornock 4
E.D., Mann L.
Psychological
antecedents of
student
procrastination
.Australian
Psychologist.
July 1988.
Wiley Online
Library. Web.
28 Sept. 2016.

Urban, Tim.
"Why
Procrastinators
Procrastinate."
Wait But Why.
14 May 2016.
Web. 06 Oct.
2016.

correlations to academic procrastination. The

study itself focuses on three different
explanations for procrastination which are
indecision, self-esteem issues, and irrational
beliefs of ones self worth (Beswick,
Rothblum, & Mann). The reasoning for
indecision was that it was theorized to be a
coping pattern to deal with the difficulty of
these situations. The rationale for irrational
beliefs were that procrastinators have thoughts
that the assignment proves their worth. This
leads into the final focus of self-esteem. The
references in the article believe that it is used
as a buffer for shaky sense of self-worth
(Beswick, Rothblum, & Mann). In addition to
all of these things, they also tested its effects
on anxiety and depression, which were found
to have greatly linked to procrastination in the
end. It was found that all of these had at least
some correlation except for the irrational
decisions.

with stress, it could be

no different than
another defense
mechanism.

This article is a blog post by Tim Urban, a

man who has claimed himself a chronic
procrastinator. He uses his voice to talk about
what goes on in the mind of a procrastinator in
terms that everyone can understand. He uses
graphics and imagery to help prove his point
by referring to things such as the Rational
Decision Maker, The Instant Gratification
Monkey, and The Panic Monster.
Eventually, he brings up other things such as
the Dark Playground and then he provides
his own way to beat procrastination (Urban).
The important thing about this source is that it
is unapologetically honest about these things
in a light-hearted setting.

This is a very
important article to
read because it comes
from the perspective of
a procrastinator, a
member of my round
table. What is a better
way to understand
them than having them
explain it to the world?
I do not think there is
and that is why I really
enjoy this source.

The irrational beliefs

and self-esteem seem
to go hand in hand.
When people
procrastinate and get a
bad result, they will
also begin to spiral
down a dark path like
those who believe they
are not normal.
Mental disorders are
linked to
procrastination

Thornock 5
Ferrari, Joseph
R., Judith
Johnson, and
William
George.
McCown.
Procrastination
and Task
Avoidance:
Theory,
Research, and
Treatment.
New York:
Plenum, 1995.
Print.

This book follows the different research and

theories on procrastination. I see this as the
large umbrella that everything about
procrastination. It covers different treatments,
disorders, and theories that are either
connected to or involve procrastination. A
couple sections, however, will probably serve
me better than others. First, the ninth chapter
titled Treatment of Academic Procrastination
in College Students will probably be a good
one because it shows not only what is going
on in the students processes, but also how to
treat it. The second will be the second chapter
titled Procrastination Research: A synopsis of
Existing Research Perspectives because it
addresses all the different perspectives that I
am looking at. These are the
psychoanalytical, behavioral, and biological
perspectives to procrastination.

Definitely the broad,

general spectrum of
the procrastination
topic

Schouwenburg
, Henri C.
Counseling the
Procrastinator
in Academic
Settings.
Washington,
DC: American
Psychological
Association,
2004. Print.

This is another print source following along

the same lines as the last, except it takes a
different approach to procrastination. This
focuses solely on counseling those who deal
with procrastination. I currently only plan to
use the first three chapters, however, which
give more information on procrastination and
different theories and perspectives on it.
These theories and perspectives also focus
only on procrastination in an academic setting
versus the last where it address procrastination
as a whole in every situation.

I think it is critical to
get multiple sources on
the same subject if
they agree because it
helps solidify the
validation of the
information given.

Ferrari, Joseph
R., and Tina
Patel. "Social
Comparisons
by
Procrastinators

This article follows a study that looks at how

procrastinators view others with the same
tendencies. It is very common for most of
those who procrastinate often to blame
themselves, but not much research has been
conducted on what they think of others. The

It is common to study
the procrastinator
thoughts of themselves
as they procrastinate,
but not what they think
of others when they

Procrastination, I think
happens a lot more in
students, so it is
definitely good to have
this chapter to
reference

Research produces
results which give us
information to write
about. I think that is
pretty important.

Thornock 6
: Rating Peers
with Similar or
Dissimilar
Delay
Tendencies."
Personality
and Individual
Differences
37.7 (2004):
1493-501.
ScienceDirect.
Web. 7 Oct.
2016.

participants had to read two different

narratives written about a procrastinator and a
non-procrastinator. When they finished the
study, it showed that most of the
procrastinators did associate their habits to
those of the same character in the narrative;
however, they did not find them as someone
they could be friends with. Whether or not the
subjects were projecting their own personal
feelings is definitely a factor that affects the
outcome of the study. Further research is
needed to explore these possibilities, the
study says in its concluding statements.

commit the same

crime.

O'Donoghue,
Ted, and
Matthew
Rabin.
"Procrastinatio
n on
Long-term
Projects."
Journal of
Economic
Behavior &
Organization
66.2 (2008):
161-75.
ScienceDirect.
Web. 7 Oct.
2016.

This article follows a study done on

procrastination in a long-term project. This
could be simple day to day tasks or writing a
90 page paper. They name two different
groups. One, the Sophisticates, are
completely aware of what is going on and the
others Naifs are not aware and do not bother
to fix their hazardous pattern. After the study
has ended, the experimenters found that
procrastination is more likely if the different
steps to getting there have unequal benefits in
Naifs. When things get harder toward the end
of a large project, the same group of people
are also more likely to stop working on the
project altogether. They also concluded that
those whose procrastination habits lie in
between Sophisticates and Naifs ended up
following the different habits described of
Naifs.

The cost of
procrastination is not
just the forgone
benefits from a
valuable project, but
also the wasted effort.

Opposites dont
attract mentality of
relationships
Maybe because they
do not like to see it in
themselves

Can all projects be

counted as the same?

Are Sophisticates
better than Naifs?