The Worst Procrastinator Ever

Self-concepts are an integration of what people think and believe about themselves.  According to Hazel Markus (1977), self-concepts are made up of cognitive self-schemas, which help individuals to organize thoughts about themselves to process information more proficiently.  We more easily recall information that adheres to our self-schema and disregard information that doesn’t (Markus, 1977).  For example, I think that I am a hard-working person, which is part of my self-schema.  I can recall plenty of times when people have told me so, such as when past employers have written recommendation letters for me.  However, last year my roommate called me “the worst procrastinator ever.”  I remember arguing with her and telling her that I don’t procrastinate that much and that I work really hard.  In retrospect, however, I did procrastinate quite a bit.  Clearly, procrastinating did not fit into my self-schema of being hard-working, which led to our disagreement.  Similarly, if I do not finish something by a deadline that I set, I often feel very disappointed in myself (even if I finish it before the real deadline), illustrating that our self-schemas have a large impact on how we feel about ourselves (Markus, 1977). 

Furthermore, Markus (1977) argues that our self-concept is structured around schematic traits, the self-schemas that we view as most important to our self-concept.  Not only do schematic traits affect our processing about ourselves, but also about others; they allow us to make quick judgments about other people based on where they fall on the schematic trait (Markus, 1977).  One of my schematic traits, as described above, would be that I am hard-working.  In general, I do not like group projects because I always feel like my peers are not as dedicated to the project as I am.  I can remember one particular instance when a teacher assigned us to groups for a project.  When my group first met and introduced ourselves, I was quick to judge one member of the group.  After he introduced himself, he stated that we should not worry if he seems lazy because even if he doesn’t show up for meetings or finish his material before the group deadlines, he will eventually get his stuff done.  As soon as the meeting ended, I met with my teacher to demand to switch to a different group.  Because the group member appeared to be the polar opposite on one of my schematic traits, I was very quick to judge him.  Perhaps if I had stayed in that group, he could have proven my judgment incorrect. (n= 421)

References

Markus, H. (1977). Self-schemata and processing information about the self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35(2), 63-78.