Exploring Psychological–Cognitive Energy Literacy Profiles of High School Students and the Role of Gender as a Predictor: A Latent Profile Analysis

Growing global energy and sustainability challenges require citizens to make informed decisions about energy production, consumption, and conservation. Promoting energy literacy among young people is therefore increasingly recognized as an important educational objective. However, most previous research has adopted variable-centred approaches that focus on average levels of knowledge and attitudes, potentially overlooking meaningful differences among learners. By adopting a psychological–cognitive operationalization of energy literacy, the present study addressed this gap through a person-centred approach. Additionally, the role of gender as a predictor of profile membership was investigated. A convenience sample of N = 363 Italian secondary school students completed an adapted four-tier diagnostic instrument that measured both content knowledge and confidence judgements, alongside a 12-item attitudes towards energy survey. Latent profile analysis was conducted using standardized knowledge, confidence judgements, and attitude scores as profile indicators. The predictive role of gender was examined using a classification-error-adjusted three-step analysis. Three distinct profiles emerged: Overconfident and with Lower Attitudes (55.6%), Calibrated and with Higher Attitudes (38.0%), and Knowledgeable, Calibrated and with Higher Attitudes (6.3%). Gender did not significantly predict profile membership after classification uncertainty was taken into account. Overall, our results highlight the value of person-centred approaches for capturing internal heterogeneity in students’ knowledge about and attitudes towards energy-related issues and suggest that effective energy education should foster not only conceptual understanding but also well-calibrated metacognitive self-assessment. Such efforts may better support students as future citizens to engage meaningfully with future environmental and sustainability challenges.