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Life-domain regret regarding procrastination (LDR-P): Scale validation in the United States and Israel

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Abstract

Life regrets over inactions were found to have a long-term negative effect on people’s lives. Procrastination can be considered as a type of inaction; however, life regret regarding procrastination has been only briefly studied. The present study examined the factorial structure of the life-domain regret regarding procrastination scale (LDR-P) in two cultures (the US and Israel). In addition, the associations of regret regarding procrastination with general and behavioral procrastination measures and its mean scores were compared between the two cultures. Findings indicated a four-factor structure (career & community, interpersonal relationships, personal development, self-enhancement) based on the presence of procrastination in different life-domains. Further findings revealed strong associations between regret regarding procrastination and the two other procrastination measures mainly for the US sample. Finally, a comparison of factors means between the US and Israeli samples indicated that Americans more than Israelis experience regret over procrastination in education, career planning, finance and community life-domains. These results suggest both that life-domain regret regarding procrastination is a multi-dimensional construct that can be measured in different cultures and detect some cross-cultural differences. It should be further studied to better understand if and how it affects peoples’ lives, and how it can be addressed.

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Correspondence to Marina Goroshit.

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Goroshit, M., Hen, M. & Ferrari, J.R. Life-domain regret regarding procrastination (LDR-P): Scale validation in the United States and Israel. Curr Psychol 39, 900–912 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-9801-2

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