Fear of failure and procrastination: Joseph Ferrari's answer

On Ologies (the "Volitional Psychology" episode, 2020), DePaul University psychologist Joseph Ferrari told host Alie Ward about people who can't decide. His example was a group at a cinema with dozens of films on: nobody picks, so nobody can be blamed if the film is bad. When Ward admitted that the hard part is the fear of picking the wrong thing, Ferrari had little patience for the idea that you can avoid getting things wrong.

you will make mistakes in life. Life is full of failure.

Joseph Ferrari, Ologies, 2020

His point was about what comes next. In his telling, the useful questions aren't "Will I fail?" but whether you learned, grew and moved on, and how you get back up. In the same conversation he called this kind of stalling "decisional procrastination", and suggested one practical move: don't put an indecisive person in front of too many options.

Why fear of mistakes leads to delay

Ferrari's moment fits a well-studied pattern. Researchers split perfectionism into two parts. Perfectionistic strivings means holding high standards. Perfectionistic concerns means worrying about mistakes and about what others will think. A 2017 meta-analysis found that the worry part went with more procrastination, across 43 samples and about 10,000 people, while high standards on their own went with somewhat less (Sirois, Molnar & Hirsch, 2017). In other words, the fear of falling short does the damage, and high standards can stay.

That explains why "try harder" rarely helps someone who is stuck this way. Raising the stakes only makes the task feel more dangerous, and putting it off brings quick relief from that feeling. A smaller, safer first try takes away some of the danger. Our longer piece on perfectionism and procrastination goes deeper.

After a bad day

Ferrari's other point, getting back up, matters most on the day after a slip. Research on self-forgiveness found that students who forgave themselves for putting off revision before one exam procrastinated less before the next one (Wohl, Pychyl & Bennett, 2010). Being hard on yourself mostly adds to the bad feeling you were trying to escape.

How this fits the Stop procrastinating program

In the 1h Protocol to Stop Procrastinating, learners whose answers point to the Judged pattern (worried the work won't be good enough) start by lowering the bar. One change you can choose is a good-enough line, written in your own words, that sets the standard for the first try before you begin. A later chapter plans for the moment you don't feel like starting and for the day after a slip. The first chapter is free, so you can see your pattern first.

Source: Ologies: Volitional Psychology (procrastination) with Joseph Ferrari (2020) Research: Sirois, Molnar & Hirsch (2017) · Wohl, Pychyl & Bennett (2010)