Career Decisional Procrastination Questionnaire: Construction and Initial Validation

Career decisional procrastination (CDP) is commonly conceptualized as a unidimensional, maladaptive tendency to delay career decisions. This approach overlooks that individuals may delay career decisions for different reasons. This research developed and initially validated the Career Decisional Procrastination Questionnaire (CDPQ), a multidimensional measure of five underlying reasons for career decisional procrastination: short-term rewards , self-worth protection, lack of psychological resources , pressure thriving , and strategic timing . The CDPQ was examined in two Hebrew-speaking Israeli samples ( N = 240; N = 243) and one English-speaking U.S. sample ( N = 322). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported the five-factor structure. The CDPQ demonstrated incremental validity beyond unidimensional measures in predicting career decision distress and career commitment making, and, in the Hebrew-speaking sample, career decision status. Lack of psychological resources , self-worth protection , and short-term rewards generally showed positive associations with maladaptive indicators, including career decision distress, decision rumination, and career decision ambiguity aversion. Pressure thriving and strategic timing showed a more complex pattern: both were positively associated with the harnessing dimension of psychological flexibility, whereas strategic timing showed less consistently adaptive associations. Findings support a multidimensional understanding of CDP and highlight the value of assessing reasons for delay to inform research and career counseling practice.