| Procrastination refers to voluntarily delaying the initiation or completion of a planned action,even when the negative consequences of delaying are expected(Steel,2007).With the rapid development of modern society,procrastination has become a prevalent problem behavior.Studies have found that procrastination can result in a series of serious consequences,such as decreased productivity in work and study,low subjective well-being,unstable economic status,and even failed public policies(K.R.Kim & Seo,2015).The investigation of the underlying mechanisms of procrastination has important theoretical implications and practical values for the prevention and intervention of procrastination behaviors,which has received extensive attention from researchers in various fields both domestically and abroad.It has been found that procrastination behavior is influenced by certain personality traits,such as impulsivity,self-control,trait anxiety,and dispositional optimism(F.M.Sirois et al.,2017).Among them,dispositional optimism as a positive personality trait has been found to have a stable negative correlation with procrastination in previous research(moshtaghi &moayedfar,2017).However,the cognitive mechanisms and neural bases of how dispositional optimism affects procrastination are still unclear.High dispositional optimism individuals always accompany more positive future imagination and less negative future imagination when facing difficulties and challenges,thus showing sustained efforts toward long-term goals(Magnano et al.,2015).The time decision model of procrastination(TDM)points out that the essence of procrastination is the struggle between the motivational force of "doing it now" and the delay force of "doing it later," in short,the trade-off between the engagement utility(mainly task aversiveness)and the outcome utility(mainly task incentive result)of a task(S.Zhang et al.,2019b).It cannot be ignored that the construction and trade-off engagement of the outcome utility of task incentive and the engagement utility of task negativity rely on episodic prospection.Therefore,we speculate that dispositional optimism may affect individual procrastination behavior through episodic prospection.The current study aimed to investigate the cognitive mechanism and potential neural basis underlying the effect of dispositional optimism on procrastination.Specifically,Study 1 used a 2(task episodic prospection direction: engagement vs.outcome)× 2(task affective valence: positive vs.negative)model of episodic prospection and a high-ecological-validity free construction research paradigm to explore the cognitive mechanism by which dispositional optimism affects procrastination.Study 2 combined voxel-based morphometry(VBM),resting-state functional connectivity(RSFC)analysis,and mediation analysis methods to investigate the potential neural pathways underlying the effect of dispositional optimism on procrastination.Study 1 revealed the cognitive mechanism by which dispositional optimism affects procrastination through a 2(task imagery direction: engagement vs.outcome)× 2(task affective valence: positive vs.negative)model of episodic prospection.First,using the free construction research paradigm,175 participants reported their episodic prospection content of actual procrastination tasks,and three psychology experts independently coded these contents according to the 2 × 2 theoretical model of episodic prospection,resulting in scores for the four dimensions of episodic prospection("positive engagement" episodic prospection,"positive outcome" episodic prospection,"negative engagement" episodic prospection,and "negative outcome" episodic prospection).At the same time,the participants’(overall)task utility was examined as their(comprehensive)emotional experience after episodic prospection,their procrastination level was measured as an index of state procrastination,and their dispositional optimism level and trait procrastination level were measured using the Life Orientation Test-Revised and General Procrastination Scale,respectively.Second,stepwise regression analysis was used to explore the predictive effects of the four dimensions of episodic prospection on procrastination.Finally,the dispositional optimism score was used as an independent variable,task procrastination as the dependent variable,and episodic prospection dimensions and task utility as the mediating variables in the regression analysis,and the cognitive mechanism underlying the effect of dispositional optimism on procrastination was investigated using a chain mediation effect test method.The results showed that(1)The correlation analysis results revealed a significant negative correlation between dispositional optimism level and "negative engagement" episodic prospection,task procrastination,and trait procrastination level,and a significant positive correlation between dispositional optimism level and "positive engagement" and "positive outcome" episodic prospection and task utility;(2)The stepwise regression analysis results revealed that only "negative engagement" episodic prospection could effectively predict task procrastination;(3)The results of the chain mediation effect test showed that dispositional optimism reduces procrastination through the "negative engagement episodic prospection → task utility" chain mediation.Specifically,when individuals have a high level of dispositional optimism,they imagine fewer negative engagements associated with the task and experience fewer negative emotions.This results in a more positive task utility,which leads to less procrastination behavior.Overall,the results of Study 1 suggest that dispositional optimism freely associates fewer negative engagement when faced with a task,maintains a more positive task utility,and thus exhibits less procrastination behavior.In Study 2,we used a larger sample size(N=408)to explore the potential neural pathways through which dispositional optimism influences procrastination.First,we used VBM analysis to investigate the brain structure basis of dispositional optimism.Then,we used RSFC analysis to construct a whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity pattern related to dispositional optimism,using brain regions significantly correlated with dispositional optimism in voxel-based morphometry as seed points.Finally,we used a mediation analysis to investigate the neural pathways through which dispositional optimism affects procrastination.Behavioral results showed a significant negative correlation between dispositional optimism and procrastination.The VBM analysis revealed that dispositional optimism was positively correlated with gray matter volume in the right para-hippocampal gyrus(r PHC),but negatively correlated with gray matter volume in the left cerebellum.The RSFC analysis showed that functional connectivity between the r PHC and the right medial frontal gyrus(r MFC)was negatively correlated with dispositional optimism.Mediation analysis results showed that the r PHC-r MFC functional connectivity partially mediated the relationship between dispositional optimism and procrastination.These results suggest that the r PHC-r MFC functional connectivity may represent a potential neural basis for dispositional optimism’s impact on procrastination,characterized by less aversive task-related affective experiences triggered by fewer "negative engagement" episodic prospection.In summary,this study found that:(1)the mediating effect of “‘negative engagement’ episodic prospection → task utility” plays a chain mediation role in the impact of dispositional optimism on procrastination.This suggests that high optimists tend to imagine fewer negative engagements,resulting in less task aversiveness and more positive task value,thus exhibiting less procrastination behavior.(2)The r PHC-r MFC functional connectivity partially mediates the impact of dispositional optimism on procrastination.The involvement of this connectivity in an individual’s episodic prospection and negative emotions indicates that high optimists can construct fewer negative expectations,leading to fewer negative emotional experiences,such as task aversiveness,and exhibiting less procrastination.The current study elucidates the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying dispositional optimism’s impact on procrastination,which has significant theoretical implications for understanding the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying dispositional optimism’s impact on procrastination.It also provides a new approach to intervening in the procrastination behavior of individuals with low dispositional optimism,that is,by reducing their negative expectations. |
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