Personality traits, Self-Esteem and Academic Procrastination in Cameroon

Abstract

This study investigates the link between personality traits, self-esteem and academic procrastination among university students in Cameroon. Participants are 291 students to whom three scales have been administered: the French version of the Big Five personality Inventory scale (Plaisant et al., 2010), the academic procrastination scale (Ghazal, 2012) and Rosenberg’s (1965) self-esteem scale. The survey was conducted both online via the Google Forms platform, and by administering the physical questionnaires. The results indicate that academic procrastination is significantly and negatively correlated with the personality factors of conscientiousness and openness to experience. On the other hand, the relation with neuroticism is positive and average. As for self-esteem, it is negatively correlated with academic procrastination. These results are among the first on the phenomenon in Cameroon and corroborate the conclusions of certain studies while differing from several others. Research perspectives are subsequently considered.