# Personality traits and procrastination among medical students: the mediating role of trait emotional intelligence

## TL;DR

This study explores how emotional intelligence affects procrastination in Saudi medical students, showing it can reduce the negative impact of certain personality traits.

## Contribution

The study identifies trait emotional intelligence as a mediator between Big Five personality traits and academic procrastination in Saudi medical students.

## Key findings

- Openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness were negatively linked to procrastination.
- Trait emotional intelligence partially or fully mediated the relationship between personality traits and procrastination.
- Extraversion and neuroticism showed positive associations with procrastination, but no mediation effects were found.

## Abstract

Academic procrastination is a prevalent issue among medical students, often influenced by personality traits and emotional regulation abilities. Trait Emotional intelligence has been suggested as a potential mediator in the relationship between personality and procrastination, but this relationship remains underexplored in Saudi Arabia. This study examined the mediating role of trait emotional intelligence in the association between Big Five personality traits and academic procrastination among medical students.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 317 undergraduate medical students at King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia, using stratified random sampling. Validated instruments were employed, including the Academic Procrastination Scale–Short Form, Big Five Inventory–10, and Brief Emotional Intelligence Scale. Structural Equation Modeling with bootstrapping (5,000 samples) was used to assess direct and indirect effects.

The findings of this study revealed that openness to experience, conscientiousness, and agreeableness were significantly and negatively associated with academic procrastination. In contrast, extraversion and neuroticism exhibited significant positive associations. Trait emotional intelligence demonstrated a strong negative direct effect on academic procrastination. Mediation analyses indicated that trait emotional intelligence partially mediated the relationship between openness and procrastination, and between conscientiousness and procrastination. A full mediating effect was observed between agreeableness and procrastination. No significant mediation effects were found for extraversion or neuroticism.

The findings underscore the pivotal role of personality traits and trait emotional intelligence in shaping procrastination behaviors among medical students. Specifically, trait emotional intelligence functions as a key mediator in reducing the negative impact of certain personality traits on procrastination. These results suggest that targeted interventions aimed at enhancing trait emotional intelligence may mitigate academic procrastination and improve performance outcomes in medical education settings.