Dataset for the paper “Procrastination May Theoretically Reflect an Evolutionary Byproduct of Non-planning Impulsivity”

Procrastination has immediately repercussions on health and survival resilience, yet it is moderately heritable and remains increasingly prevalent across human societies. Despite a paradox, this behavior is theoretically explained to represent a byproduct of evolutionary advantages underlying impulsivity, yet not deciphered well by scientific evidences. Using a longitudinal twin cohort (N = 154), we show that non-planning impulsivity (NPI) during late adolescence and early adulthood uniquely predicts procrastination in later life. This effect was independently replicated in two cross-sectional cohorts (N = 327; N = 1,543). AE twin modeling and meta-analysis (N = 3,656 twin pairs) revealed significant shared genetic contributions (rg = 0.51). Genome-wide association analyses identified six overlapping SNPs potentially related to neural dysregulation. Neuroimaging meta-analysis (NeuroSynth meta‑analysis for impulsivity: k = 198 studies, 5855 loci; mini meta-analysis for procrastination: k = 5 studies, 7 independent samples, Ncumulative = 893 participants), normative modeling (N = 37,407), and seed-based mapping converged on the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) as the region of maximal overlap between NPI and procrastination. Despite phenotypic overlap, suggestive evidence points to partial independence in their genetic underpinnings. Finally, Mendelian Randomization analyses potentially provide suggestive evidence for causal influences of NPI on DLPFC morphology. Together, our findings provide empirical support for the theory that procrastination may emerge partly as an evolutionary byproduct of NPI, while also demonstrating that it is neurogenetically distinct in key aspects.This dataset includes the de-identified summary data and analysis scripts for the paper “Procrastination May Theoretically Reflect an Evolutionary Byproduct of Non-planning Impulsivity” compiled in the order in which the results are presented.