Associations of procrastination with loneliness, social isolation, and social withdrawal

Aim: The aim was to investigate the association of procrastination with loneliness, social isolation, and social withdrawal (also stratified by sex).

Subjects and methods: Data were used from a large sample of the general adult population in Germany, consisting of individuals aged 18 to 74 years (analytic sample, n = 5000 individuals, mean age: 46.9 years, SD: 15.2; 50.7% female). Standardized instruments were employed to measure the key variables. Multiple linear regressions were employed.

Results: After the adjustment for various sociodemographic factors, lifestyle habits, and health-related variables, the regression analyses showed that greater procrastination was significantly associated with higher levels of loneliness (β = .11, p < .001), higher perceived social isolation (β = .05, p < .001), higher objective social isolation (β = .14, p < .001), and greater social withdrawal (β = 1.00, p < .001). Additional regressions showed that such associations were mainly significantly more pronounced among men.

Conclusion: Our study showed that procrastination is associated with several unfavorable social outcomes, particularly among men. Efforts to address procrastination may also help such unfavorable social outcomes, pending future longitudinal studies.