Why do teachers procrastinate?The role of fear of negative evaluation and intolerance of uncertainty

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.