A multidimensional examination of academic procrastination reasons in pre-service teachers: SEM and latent profile analysis on the structural role of self-confidence-based procrastination.

Academic procrastination in teacher education carries implications extending beyond individual performance to future pedagogical practice and student outcomes. This study examined procrastination dynamics among preservice teachers through an integrated framework encompassing the predictive role of personal variables, the structural position of confidence-based procrastination, and latent profile heterogeneity. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 490 preservice teachers enrolled in seven primary education programs. Data were collected via a six-dimensional Academic Procrastination Reasons Scale and personal variables form. Structural equation modeling and latent profile analysis were performed using RStudio. Procrastination reasons exhibited moderate levels and positive intercorrelations across subscales. Personal variables were selectively associated with procrastination dimensions. No personal variable was significantly associated with confidence-based procrastination; however, academic self-confidence-based reasons were strongly and independently associated with all procrastination dimensions. Latent profile analysis identified four distinct profiles: Selective Procrastinators (15%), Moderate Procrastinators (44%), High-Engaged Procrastinators (20%), and Minimal Procrastinators (22%). Integrated findings demonstrated that procrastination based on academic self-confidence may hold a structurally privileged position over all other procrastination reasons, independent of demographic predictors. This finding, which places academic self-confidence at the center of academic procrastination, provides a unique theoretical contribution to research on motivation, self-beliefs, and academic behavior. The consistent emergence of this pattern in both variable-centered and person-centered analyses suggests that procrastination interventions in teacher education should be profile-based and academic confidence-focused, instead of relying on demographic grouping. Accordingly, specific recommendations are presented within the scope of the study.