Role of Academic Procrastination and Academic Intelligence in Shaping Student Behaviour and Cognitive Performance

The present study investigates among secondary school students. Academic procrastination, understood as the deliberate postponement of academic tasks despite awareness of negative consequences (Steel, 2007), has increasingly been recognised as a behavioural impediment to effective learning and emotional self-regulation among adolescents. Research suggests that chronic procrastination is closely associated with behavioural difficulties, poor time management, academic stress, avoidance tendencies, and reduced classroom engagement (Sirois, Melia-Gordon & Pychyl, 2013). In contrast, academic intelligence, conceptualized as students’ cognitive capacity to process information, reason, problem-solve, and apply knowledge (Gottfredson, 1997), plays a central role in shaping cognitive performance and academic success. Studies indicate that intelligence contributes to cognitive efficiency, decision-making, and adaptive behavioural outcomes; however, it interacts significantly with motivational, emotional, and behavioural variables (Duckworth & Seligman, 2005; Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2014). This study aims to explore how procrastination behaviours and academic intelligence jointly influence patterns of student behaviour and cognitive performance. A descriptive correlational research design was employed to examine the relationship between procrastination, cognitive ability, and behavioural outcomes. Findings reveal that higher levels of procrastination are associated with maladaptive learning behaviours, decreased academic persistence, and lower levels of cognitive performance, whereas higher academic intelligence corresponds to improved cognitive functioning and more constructive classroom behaviour. However, the results also highlight that intelligence alone does not guarantee positive academic or behavioural outcomes without adequate regulation of procrastinatory tendencies. The implications of the study emphasize the need for educational interventions that integrate cognitive development strategies with behavioural self-regulation practices to enhance academic well-being and performance. Strengthening self-management skills, structured learning routines, and cognitive training frameworks may significantly improve both behavioural responses and cognitive outcomes among students.