The Effectiveness of Attributional Retraining on Academic Procrastination in Sixth-Grade Female Students

Abstract

The primary aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of attributional retraining on academic procrastination in sixth-grade female elementary school students. The research design was a quasi-experimental study utilizing a pretest-posttest design with a control group and a follow-up phase. The statistical population consisted of all sixth-grade female students in Hamadan, Iran, who were enrolled during the 2019–2020 academic year. From this population, 30 sixth-grade female students were selected through convenience sampling. They were randomly assigned to two groups: an experimental group (n = 15) and a control group (n = 15). The participants completed the Procrastination Assessment Scale–Student version (PASS, 1984) to measure academic procrastination during the pretest, posttest, and follow-up stages. The experimental group received 11 sessions of 45-minute attributional retraining, based on the program developed by Seligman et al. (1996). In contrast, the control group received no intervention. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The results indicated that attributional retraining had a statistically significant effect on reducing academic procrastination (p < .01). Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that attributional retraining can be utilized as an effective educational strategy to help students reduce their academic procrastination.