Impact of emotional intelligence on academic procrastination among EFL learners in China: Serial mediation role of self-efficacy and psychological resilience

Procrastination is a phenomenon that has a double connotes, positive and negative and can occur in all individuals. There are many factors that cause individuals to procrastinate their works, both situational factors and personal factors. Few studies have focused on the impact of individuals’ emotional intelligence on their academic procrastination, especially among university students in the context of Chinese higher education. Drawing upon this existing research gap, the present study set forth to test a serial mediation model of Chinese universities students’self-efficacy and psychological resilience in China. The Emotional Intelligence Scale, general Self-efficacy Scale, brief Psychological Resilience Scale, and Academic Procrastination Scale were administered to 880 EFL learners in Chinese universities. The results of this study indicated that: (a) Academic procrastination is negatively correlated with emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, and psychological resilience; (b) Emotional intelligence is a significant negative predictor of academic procrastination; (c) Self-efficacy and psychological resilience partially mediate the link between emotional intelligence and academic procrastination, and jointly create a serial mediating effect. The results reveal the pathway through which internal individual factors affect academic procrastination, and highlight the significance of learners’ psychological resources in affecting academic procrastination, which offers fresh perspectives and approaches for understanding and addressing college students’ academic procrastination. Detailed discussion is presented in this study.