Do Animals (That Aren’t Us) Procrastinate?

You may recall the classic fable of the ant and the grasshopper, where the hardworking ant diligently prepares for the winter while the grasshopper, with a carefree attitude, ends up suffering when the cold season arrives. However, this fable primarily relates to people, as it's commonly believed that animals don't procrastinate. But is this entirely true?

A question posed by David Turnell on Patreon led to an interesting exploration of procrastination in non-human animals. Surprisingly, there are some instances where animals exhibit behaviors resembling procrastination, at least in controlled laboratory settings. This revelation might offer solace to those who tend to procrastinate like the grasshopper in the story.

To delve into this subject further, it's crucial to establish a working definition of procrastination. Scientists have defined it as the act of delaying a task, only to face a more challenging or unpleasant version of that task later. It usually occurs when dealing with tasks we'd rather avoid. For instance, postponing cleaning the bathroom can result in having to tackle a dirtier bathroom when guests are expected. The underlying idea is that procrastination involves deferring a task that we find unappealing.

While research on procrastination in non-human animals is relatively limited, some studies have examined pigeons in this context. Pigeons were tested to determine if they would choose to delay a task before starting or after completing it. The experiment concluded that pigeons exhibited procrastination because they seemed to prefer waiting before undertaking a pecking task. However, these studies had certain limitations, such as the pigeons knowing they would eventually receive a food reward. Consequently, the experiments focused on how long pigeons would delay gratification rather than how they would avoid unpleasant tasks, which is a core aspect of human procrastination.

A more insightful study from the 1970s involved pigeons receiving mild electric shocks, a situation they naturally wanted to avoid. The pigeons learned that they could decide when to experience the shock, either sooner or later. When faced with a choice between being shocked in the next 10 seconds or receiving a shock three minutes later, the pigeons opted to delay the discomfort. This experiment illustrated that pigeons preferred to experience an unpleasant event later rather than sooner.

However, this research still didn't entirely mimic the classic human scenario of getting coffee now and cleaning the bathroom later. It wasn't exactly like having to clean a dirtier bathroom when the time comes. The situation became clearer when rat studies were considered. When rats were given the choice between a smaller shock sooner or a larger shock later, they consistently chose the smaller immediate shock. This suggested that rats did not procrastinate and were more inclined to prioritize immediate discomfort avoidance.

Nevertheless, the rat studies took an interesting turn when researchers allowed the rats to plan ahead. If the smaller shock was pushed further into the future, two out of three rats chose to procrastinate in making the decision about when to experience the shock. Although this delay did not significantly influence their final choice, it indicated that some rats exhibited hesitation and preferred to postpone making a decision.

In this context, it seems that rats might share some similarities with humans when it comes to procrastination, with certain individuals more prone to procrastinate than others. However, these studies were labeled as examining impulsiveness and self-control rather than procrastination.

In conclusion, some non-human animals have been observed to delay tasks they find unpleasant, even when they know they will face these tasks later. The ways in which these animals exhibit such behavior may vary, and the terminology used in the studies can differ. Ultimately, the research hints at the possibility that procrastination or procrastination-like behaviors might exist in the animal kingdom. While not all animals procrastinate in the same way humans do, there is evidence of shared elements of procrastination.

This exploration is not only interesting from a scientific perspective but also offers some reassurance to human procrastinators who can find solace in the idea that they are not alone in their tendency to make tasks more challenging for themselves.