The dark side of precrastination
Exploring the psychological burdens of being too early
Publication date
2025-12-03
Document type
Forschungsartikel
Organisational unit
Scopus ID
Publisher
Frontiers Research Foundation
Series or journal
Frontiers in Psychology
ISSN
Periodical volume
16
Article ID
1698978
Peer-reviewed
✅
Part of the university bibliography
✅
Language
English
Keyword
chronic stress
compulsive personality characteristics
neuroticism
personality traits
precrastination
precrastination scale
Abstract
In today’s fast-paced world, where efficiency and immediacy are highly valued, one central question remains largely overlooked: When and why does early and swift action become a burden? This study focuses on the phenomenon of precrastination—the urge to complete tasks as early as possible—and sheds light on its “dark side.” Building on a recently proposed three-dimensional model of precrastination, we empirically examined the associations between anxiety- and compulsion-driven precrastination, chronic stress, and compulsive personality characteristics. In an online sample of adults (N = 200), anxiety-based precrastination was significantly associated with chronic stress, while compulsion-based precrastination correlated significantly with compulsive personality traits. Both subscales predicted their respective psychological correlates. These findings offer the first differentiated evidence that precrastination is not merely a sign of productivity but may also reflect maladaptive coping mechanisms. This opens a new perspective on a widely overlooked everyday behavior—and on the psychological costs that may come with acting too soon.
Description
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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Published version
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