AUTHOR=Ren Kai , Chen Xing , Zhang Yanni , Sun Fang , Peng Fan 

TITLE=Physical activity and academic procrastination in Chinese college students: The serial mediating roles of physical self-perceptions and self-esteem

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1083520

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1083520

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Studies have demonstrated that physical activity (PA) is negatively associated with academic procrastination. However, there is limited research on the mechanism underlying this relationship. This study aims to explore the relationship between PA and academic procrastination by investigating the roles of physical self-perceptions and self-esteem. 916 college students (650 females; Mean age = 19.11, SD age = 1.04) participated in the study. Participants completed a physical activity rating scale-3, physical self-perceptions profile, Rosenberg self-esteem scale, and academic procrastination scale. Descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation, and mediating effect analysis were carried out using SPSS 25.0. The results showed that (a) PA, physical self-perceptions, and self-esteem we negatively correlated with academic procrastination, (b) self-esteem mediated the association between PA and academic procrastination, and (c) physical self-perceptions and self-esteem sequentially mediated the association between PA and academic procrastination. These findings have deepened our understanding on the relationship between PA and academic procrastination, highlighting important approaches to deal with academic procrastination.