Autossabotagem, motivação e a influência do ambiente: uma visão evolucionista sobre a procrastinação em tempos de pandemia

Abstract

Procrastination is defined as the voluntary delay of an intended course of action, in spite of the prospect of inevitable negative consequences. Although this concept is prevalent in present times, procrastination is not a new phenomenon and it may have evolutionary origins yet to be approached, which may be able to clarify its original function and the reasons why it still manifests even with negative outcomes to the procrastinator. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the population’s mental health. Some of the most affected are university students, who needed to quickly adapt to a remote learning style and who seem to be more susceptible to the psychological consequences generated by this global crisis. Among them, there was an increase in the prevalence of symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression, which may be connected to the increase in procrastination during this period. It is of the utmost importance that we seek a better understanding of this phenomenon in this moment of uncertainty that we live through due to the SARS-CoV-2 threat so that we might take better actions when dealing with the psychological challenges of the pandemic. Therefore, this research sought to integrate and compare, through a bibliographical revision, many scientific views on the phenomenon of procrastination and to relate them to the COVID-19 pandemic under the view of the Life History Theory and Maslow-Kenrick’s Hierarchy of Human Needs to explore the evolutionary origins and the current consequences of procrastination. To this end, 31 articles were selected, all related to the themes to be explored: procrastination, self-regulation, motivation, Life History Theory, Hierarchy of Human Needs, and the physiological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results suggest that, though there is a lot to be said regarding the proximal causes of procrastination, especially when related to self-regulation and self-efficacyy flaws, literature indicates that the phenomenon is tied not only to volition, but also to the motivation of the individual. In addition, it is necessary to go deeper into the evolutionary origins of this behavior, mainly when it comes to the role of the environment in the modulation of individual motivations, an influence that may be investigated in future research taking the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic as a factor of environmental uncertainty. Future studies will be fundamental to explore the evolutionary origins of procrastination, as well as its influence in the presence of this behavior in our current context.