This study used a sample of 818 postgraduate students across several universities in China, to explore the effect of the supervisor-student relationship on procrastination in postgraduates, and the mediating roles played by the postgraduates' academic self-efficacy and learning adaptation. The study employs multiple scales and finds that: (1) the relationship between postgraduates and their supervisors is significantly and negatively correlated with academic procrastination; (2) the academic self-efficacy of postgraduates plays an independent intermediary role in the connection between the supervisor-student relationship and academic procrastination; (3) the learning adaptation of postgraduates also plays an independent intermediary role in the connection between the supervisor-student relationship and academic procrastination; (4) the academic self-efficacy and learning adaptation of postgraduates shows a chain-mediating effect in the connection between the supervisor-student relationship and academic procrastination. Ultimately, the supervisor-student relationship is an important factor that can directly affect academic procrastination, even if postgraduate students display academic self-efficacy and learning adaptation.
Keywords: academic procrastination; academic self-efficacy; chain-mediating effect; learning adaptation; supervisor–student relationship.