The association between mathematical attitudes, academic procrastination and mathematical achievement among primary school students: the moderating effect of mathematical metacognition

This study aimed to better understand the links among academic attitudes, academic procrastination, metacognition, and academic achievement in mathematics among school-age children. In total, 614 urban primary school students from third to sixth grade participated in this study and were asked to complete the Attitude toward Mathematics Inventory, the Academic Procrastination Scale and the Pupils’ Metacognitive Ability in Mathematics Questionnaire. The results revealed significant correlations among the students’ mathematical attitudes, academic procrastination, mathematical metacognition and mathematical achievement. The results also revealed that the impact of mathematical attitudes on mathematical achievement was partially mediated by academic procrastination. Moreover, mathematical metacognition moderated the relation between academic procrastination and mathematical achievement among the female students but not the male students. In particular, the higher the female students’ mathematical metacognition, the weaker the effect of academic procrastination on mathematical achievement. Implications for future research and educational practice are also discussed.