An Investigation of Academic Procrastination, Locus of Control, and Emotional Intelligence

In this research, the effects of emotional intelligence on the academic procrastination and locus of control tendencies of a group of university students are investigated. The sample of this study consists of 435 university students including 273 female students and 162 male students who were randomly selected from the population of Selcuk University students. The age range of the students varies in between 17-21 years old and the mean age is 20.19 years old. A personal information form, the Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Academic Procrastination Scale and the Locus of Control Scale were administered to the sample. Research findings show that the sub-scales of the Emotional Intelligence Scale, adaptability and coping with stress, are highly correlated with the students' academic procrastination tendency scores (p less than 0.05). Secondly, it was found that the two sub-scales of the Emotional Intelligence Scale, adaptability and general mood, could significantly predict the students' locus of control scores (p less than 0.05). Lastly, a negative correlation was found between emotional intelligence skills and both academic procrastination (p less than 0.05) and locus of control (p less than 0.01). The results were discussed in the light of the related literature.