The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological mechanism through which evaluative concerns perfectionism influences chronic procrastination among job seekers. Specifically, this study examined the mediating role of fear of failure and ...
The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological mechanism through which evaluative concerns perfectionism influences chronic procrastination among job seekers. Specifically, this study examined the mediating role of fear of failure and the moderating role of mindfulness in order to identify the structural relationships among these variables. A survey was conducted with job seekers aged between 18 and 30 years, and data from 300 participants (137 males and 163 females) were analyzed. Evaluative concerns perfectionism, chronic procrastination, fear of failure, and mindfulness were measured using validated self-report scales. Data were analyzed using SPSS 24.0 and PROCESS Macro 4.0. Descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, mediation analyses, moderation analyses, and moderated mediation analyses were performed.
The findings of this study were as follows. First, evaluative concerns perfectionism, fear of failure, and chronic procrastination were positively correlated with one another, whereas mindfulness showed significant negative correlations with all three variables. Second, fear of failure was found to fully mediate the relationship between evaluative concerns perfectionism and chronic procrastination. Third, mindfulness was found to significantly moderate the relationship between fear of failure and chronic procrastination. However, this moderating effect was significant only when mindfulness was below a certain threshold, suggesting that mindfulness functions as a protective factor that buffers or interrupts the influence of fear of failure. Fourth, a significant moderated mediation effect was identified, indicating that mindfulness moderated the mediating effect of fear of failure in the relationship between evaluative concerns perfectionism and chronic procrastination. This finding suggests that the effect of fear of failure on chronic procrastination varies depending on the level of mindfulness. Finally, the academic and practical implications of the findings were discussed, the limitations of the study were addressed, and directions for future research were suggested.