Defensive pessimism-related processes influence approaches to learning psychological well-being and academic performance through academic procrastination

Abstract This study examined whether defensive pessimism-related processes influence university students’ approaches to learning, psychological well-being, and academic performance indirectly through academic procrastination. A sample of 628 undergraduate students completed validated measures of defensive pessimism-related processes, procrastination, flourishing, and approaches to learning, along with self-reported GPA. Defensive pessimism-related processes were operationalized using a theory-driven composite derived from the Defensive Style Questionnaire (DSQ-88), reflecting anticipatory worry embedded within broader avoidance-oriented defensive functioning. Mediation analyses (PROCESS Model 4, 5000 bootstrap samples) showed that defensive pessimism-related processes did not directly predict deep, organized, or surface approaches to learning, psychological well-being, or GPA. Instead, their effects were fully mediated by procrastination. Higher levels of defensive pessimism-related processes were associated with increased procrastination, which in turn predicted lower deep and organized learning, higher surface learning, reduced well-being, and lower GPA. These findings suggest that avoidance-based procrastination is a key mechanism linking pessimistic anticipatory tendencies within defensive functioning to maladaptive academic and psychological outcomes. Importantly, the present findings should be interpreted as reflecting defensive pessimism-related processes rather than defensive pessimism as classically defined. Interventions targeting emotion regulation and reducing avoidance-rather than attempting to eliminate pessimistic thinking-may help mitigate negative academic outcomes associated with these defensive processes.