AI Insight
This study examined why secondary school teachers procrastinate by investigating the roles of intolerance of uncertainty and fear of negative evaluation in 444 teachers. The research found that while intolerance of uncertainty was initially associated with academic procrastination, this relationship was fully mediated by fear of negative evaluation, meaning teachers who struggle with uncertainty procrastinate primarily because they fear being negatively judged. The findings suggest that fear of negative evaluation is the key psychological mechanism linking uncertainty intolerance to procrastination behaviors in teachers.
Why it matters
These results indicate that interventions to reduce teacher procrastination should specifically target fear of negative evaluation rather than only addressing uncertainty intolerance. Understanding this mechanism could help develop more effective professional development programs and support systems that improve teacher wellbeing and reduce work-related stress and dysfunction.
Understand the Science
Academic procrastination has increasingly been recognized as a significant source of stress and professional dysfunction among teachers. However, the psychological mechanisms underlying this behavior are not yet fully understood. This study aimed to examine the associations among academic procrastination, intolerance of uncertainty, and fear of negative evaluation in a sample of secondary school teachers, with particular emphasis on the indirect role of fear of negative evaluation in the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and academic procrastination. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 444 secondary school teachers who voluntarily participated in the study. Data were collected using the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale–Short Form (IUS−12), Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (BFNE), and Academic Procrastination Scale–Short Form (APS–S) were used. Statistical analyses, conducted using SPSS 29.0 and JASP, including descriptive statistics, reliability analyses, Pearson correlations, hierarchical regression, and regression-based mediation analysis with bootstrapping. The results indicated that intolerance of uncertainty was positively associated with academic procrastination (B = 0.088, SE = 0.030, p = 0.004). However, this association became non-significant when fear of negative evaluation was included in the model (B = 0.026, SE = 0.031, p = 0.401). In addition, a significant indirect association between intolerance of uncertainty and academic procrastination through fear of negative evaluation was observed [indirect effect = 0.064, 95% CI (0.036, 0.095)]. Academic procrastination appears to be closely linked to fear of negative evaluation in contexts characterized by uncertainty among secondary school teachers. These findings support the relevance of fear of negative evaluation as a key mechanism associated with procrastination and highlight the importance of targeting these processes in interventions aimed at reducing avoidance-related behaviors and promoting teachers’ wellbeing.