Exploring the Link between Digital Hoarding and Academic Procrastination among Higher Education Students

Abstract

This study explored the link between digital hoarding and academic procrastination among higher education students. It examined the levels of both variables, differences across selected demographic and institutional categories, and the relationship between digital hoarding and academic procrastination. A descriptive survey design was adopted, and data were collected from 253 students enrolled in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes across different disciplines and institutions. Digital hoarding was measured using a 10-item scale developed by Neave et al. (2019), while academic procrastination was measured using a 25-item scale developed by McCloskey and Scielzo (2015). The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Tukey HSD post hoc tests and Pearson product-moment correlation. The findings showed that most students reported moderate levels of digital hoarding and academic procrastination. For digital hoarding, 179 students (71%) were in the moderate category, 38 (15%) in the low category and 36 (14%) in the high category. For academic procrastination, 192 students (76%) were in the moderate category, 29 (13%) in the low category and 32 (11%) in the high category. Significant differences in digital hoarding were found by gender and type of institution, while academic programme and discipline showed no significant differences. For academic procrastination, type of institution showed a significant difference, whereas gender, academic programme and discipline did not. The Pearson correlation indicated a very weak and non-significant relationship between digital hoarding and academic procrastination (r = .026, p = .676). The study therefore suggests that, within this sample, digital hoarding and academic procrastination occur among higher education students but are not statistically related.