Lost in Time: Curvilinear Effects of Subjective Time Progression on Procrastination and Performance

Individuals’ time perception at work as slow or fast has been shown to affect job performance, with a positive linear relationship. However, this conclusion overlooks the possibility that employees can actively regulate and react to such experiences. Drawing on theories of self-regulation and procrastination, we propose an inverted U-shaped relationship between subjective time progression and procrastination, which in turn, negatively affects performance. Moreover, work self-efficacy moderates the curvilinear relationship. Across two studies, we found that subjective time progression exhibited an inverted U-shaped relationship with procrastination at between-person and within-person levels, and work self-efficacy weakened the negative curvilinear indirect effect.