Perceived Discrimination and Academic Procrastination among College Students with Physical Disabilities: The Mediating Role of Feelings of Shame and Self-Handicapping

Peng Zheng; Lingxi Zeng; Yihan Wang; Feifan Pang; Ruizhe Wang; Xinying Weng; Jie Su; Hebin Li; Tianshu Zhou; Cuiyu Lan; Yinlin Li; Qilu Huang; Zheng Li; Tingjian Lou; Kun Zhang

doi:10.1186/s40359-026-03974-z

Perceived Discrimination and Academic Procrastination among College Students with Physical Disabilities: The Mediating Role of Feelings of Shame and Self-Handicapping

Peng Zheng, Lingxi Zeng, Yihan Wang, Feifan Pang, Ruizhe Wang, Xinying Weng, Jie Su, Hebin Li, Tianshu Zhou^*, Cuiyu Lan, Yinlin Li, Qilu Huang, Zheng Li, Tingjian Lou, Kun Zhang

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

3 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

Backgrounds: Students with physical disabilities face significant challenges due to perceived discrimination. However. Research on perceived discrimination among students with disabilities rarely extends to unfavorable educational outcomes.
Aims: This research aims to explore the association between perceived discrimination and academic procrastination among college students with disabilities, with self-handicapping and feelings of shame acting as mediators in this association.
Sample: 1142 college students with disabilities participated in the present study.
Method: An online questionnaire collected anonymous data on demographics, perceived discrimination, self-handicapping, feelings of shame, and academic procrastination among students with disabilities.
Results: The results revealed that perceived discrimination is positively associated with academic procrastination among college students with physical disabilities, and this positive association was significantly mediated by self-handicapping and feelings of shame.
Conclusion: Students with physical disabilities who perceive high discrimination may feel less capable, which separately contributes to increased self-handicapping, heightened feelings of shame, and severe academic procrastination.
© The Author(s) 2026.

Original language	English
Article number	196
Journal	BMC Psychology
Volume	14
Issue number	1
Online published	12 Jan 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-03974-z
Publication status	Online published - 12 Jan 2026

Research Keywords

students with disabilities
perceived discrimination
feeling of shame
self-handicapping
academic procrastination

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This full text is made available under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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Zheng, P., Zeng, L., Wang, Y., Pang, F., Wang, R., Weng, X., Su, J., Li, H., Zhou, T., Lan, C., Li, Y., Huang, Q., Li, Z., Lou, T., & Zhang, K. (2026). Perceived Discrimination and Academic Procrastination among College Students with Physical Disabilities: The Mediating Role of Feelings of Shame and Self-Handicapping. BMC Psychology, 14(1), Article 196. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-03974-z

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title = "Perceived Discrimination and Academic Procrastination among College Students with Physical Disabilities: The Mediating Role of Feelings of Shame and Self-Handicapping",

abstract = "Backgrounds: Students with physical disabilities face significant challenges due to perceived discrimination. However. Research on perceived discrimination among students with disabilities rarely extends to unfavorable educational outcomes. Aims: This research aims to explore the association between perceived discrimination and academic procrastination among college students with disabilities, with self-handicapping and feelings of shame acting as mediators in this association. Sample: 1142 college students with disabilities participated in the present study. Method: An online questionnaire collected anonymous data on demographics, perceived discrimination, self-handicapping, feelings of shame, and academic procrastination among students with disabilities. Results: The results revealed that perceived discrimination is positively associated with academic procrastination among college students with physical disabilities, and this positive association was significantly mediated by self-handicapping and feelings of shame. Conclusion: Students with physical disabilities who perceive high discrimination may feel less capable, which separately contributes to increased self-handicapping, heightened feelings of shame, and severe academic procrastination. {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2026.",

keywords = "students with disabilities, perceived discrimination, feeling of shame, self-handicapping, academic procrastination",

author = "Peng Zheng and Lingxi Zeng and Yihan Wang and Feifan Pang and Ruizhe Wang and Xinying Weng and Jie Su and Hebin Li and Tianshu Zhou and Cuiyu Lan and Yinlin Li and Qilu Huang and Zheng Li and Tingjian Lou and Kun Zhang",

year = "2026",

month = jan,

day = "12",

doi = "10.1186/s40359-026-03974-z",

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Zheng, P, Zeng, L, Wang, Y, Pang, F, Wang, R, Weng, X, Su, J, Li, H, Zhou, T, Lan, C, Li, Y, Huang, Q, Li, Z, Lou, T & Zhang, K 2026, 'Perceived Discrimination and Academic Procrastination among College Students with Physical Disabilities: The Mediating Role of Feelings of Shame and Self-Handicapping', BMC Psychology, vol. 14, no. 1, 196. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-03974-z

Perceived Discrimination and Academic Procrastination among College Students with Physical Disabilities: The Mediating Role of Feelings of Shame and Self-Handicapping. / Zheng, Peng; Zeng, Lingxi; Wang, Yihan et al.
In: BMC Psychology, Vol. 14, No. 1, 196, 12.2026.

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Perceived Discrimination and Academic Procrastination among College Students with Physical Disabilities

T2 - The Mediating Role of Feelings of Shame and Self-Handicapping

AU - Zheng, Peng

AU - Zeng, Lingxi

AU - Wang, Yihan

AU - Pang, Feifan

AU - Wang, Ruizhe

AU - Weng, Xinying

AU - Su, Jie

AU - Li, Hebin

AU - Zhou, Tianshu

AU - Lan, Cuiyu

AU - Li, Yinlin

AU - Huang, Qilu

AU - Li, Zheng

AU - Lou, Tingjian

AU - Zhang, Kun

PY - 2026/1/12

Y1 - 2026/1/12

N2 - Backgrounds: Students with physical disabilities face significant challenges due to perceived discrimination. However. Research on perceived discrimination among students with disabilities rarely extends to unfavorable educational outcomes. Aims: This research aims to explore the association between perceived discrimination and academic procrastination among college students with disabilities, with self-handicapping and feelings of shame acting as mediators in this association. Sample: 1142 college students with disabilities participated in the present study. Method: An online questionnaire collected anonymous data on demographics, perceived discrimination, self-handicapping, feelings of shame, and academic procrastination among students with disabilities. Results: The results revealed that perceived discrimination is positively associated with academic procrastination among college students with physical disabilities, and this positive association was significantly mediated by self-handicapping and feelings of shame. Conclusion: Students with physical disabilities who perceive high discrimination may feel less capable, which separately contributes to increased self-handicapping, heightened feelings of shame, and severe academic procrastination. © The Author(s) 2026.

AB - Backgrounds: Students with physical disabilities face significant challenges due to perceived discrimination. However. Research on perceived discrimination among students with disabilities rarely extends to unfavorable educational outcomes. Aims: This research aims to explore the association between perceived discrimination and academic procrastination among college students with disabilities, with self-handicapping and feelings of shame acting as mediators in this association. Sample: 1142 college students with disabilities participated in the present study. Method: An online questionnaire collected anonymous data on demographics, perceived discrimination, self-handicapping, feelings of shame, and academic procrastination among students with disabilities. Results: The results revealed that perceived discrimination is positively associated with academic procrastination among college students with physical disabilities, and this positive association was significantly mediated by self-handicapping and feelings of shame. Conclusion: Students with physical disabilities who perceive high discrimination may feel less capable, which separately contributes to increased self-handicapping, heightened feelings of shame, and severe academic procrastination. © The Author(s) 2026.

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KW - perceived discrimination

KW - feeling of shame

KW - self-handicapping

KW - academic procrastination

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U2 - 10.1186/s40359-026-03974-z

DO - 10.1186/s40359-026-03974-z

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 2050-7283

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JO - BMC Psychology

JF - BMC Psychology

IS - 1

M1 - 196

ER -

Perceived Discrimination and Academic Procrastination among College Students with Physical Disabilities: The Mediating Role of Feelings of Shame and Self-Handicapping

Abstract

Research Keywords

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