The Mediating Role of Academic Procrastination and Perfectionism in the Relationship Between Trait-State Anxiety and Self-Handicapping Among University Students

Abstract

This study examines the mediating roles of academic procrastination and academic perfectionism in the relationship between trait anxiety and self-handicapping among university students, while controlling for state anxiety as a covariate. The research used a cross-sectional design with 400 undergraduates from 38 universities. Data were collected through the Self-Handicapping Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Academic Procrastination Scale, and Academic Perfectionism Scale. Mediation analyses were performed using PROCESS Macro (Model 4) to test a parallel mediation framework. Findings revealed a significant positive association between trait anxiety and self-handicapping. The results demonstrated that academic procrastination and academic perfectionism independently and significantly mediated the link between trait anxiety and self-handicapping behaviours. Students with higher trait anxiety exhibited greater tendencies toward both procrastination and perfectionism, which in turn were associated with increased self-handicapping behaviours. The proposed model accounted for 55% of the variance in self-handicapping and was statistically significant overall. These results underscore that procrastination and perfectionism operate as distinct, concurrent self-regulatory pathways through which trait anxiety contributes to self-sabotaging behaviours. The findings suggest that psychological interventions should simultaneously target both avoidant behavioural patterns and maladaptive cognitive standards to enhance academic functioning in anxious students.