Internal and external aspects of self-handicapping reflect the distinction between motivations and behaviours: Evidence from the Self-handicapping Scale

Self-handicapping strategies in educational context: construction and validation of the Brazilian Self-Handicapping Strategies Scale (EEAPREJ)

Self-handicapping strategies refer to the set of choices and attitudes adopted to minimize blame for failure and increase the value of success in achievement situations. This paper aims to describe the stages of construction and the psychometric analysis of a scale to measure the self-handicapping strategies of university students. In study 1, the major steps for the construction of the scales and initial results are reported. The internal consistency indices were acceptable and the principal component analysis revealed factors with little explanation of data variance. In study 2, data from a sample of 834 students from several undergraduate courses of different Brazilian universities were subjected to exploratory factor analysis using the minimum rank factor analysis (MRFA) method and the matrix of polychoric correlations. The parallel analysis criterion for factor retention indicated the one-factor solution as the best fit to data. The importance of having a valid and reliable measure to assess self-handicapping strategies in educational contexts and the promising use of the scale in actions to improve learning in higher education are discussed.

Achievement Goals, Fear of Failure and Self-Handicapping in Young Elite Athletes with and without Chronic Pain

Background: Pain is a common problem in elite athletes. This exploratory study compares goal orientations towards sport, fear of failure, self-handicapping and pain catastrophizing between active young elite athletes with and without chronic pain (CP) complaints (longer than three months). It examines the associations between chronic pain, fear of failure, goal orientations, self-handicapping and pain catastrophizing in young elite athletes. We explore how far goal orientation can be explained by these factors. Methods: Young elite athletes completed an online questionnaire. Data analysis: Independent samples t-test, correlational analyses and multivariate regression analyses. Results: Participants were 132 young elite athletes (mean 16 years); data for 126 were analyzed. A total of 47% reported current pain, of which 60% had CP. Adolescents with CP showed significantly more pain intensity, fear of failure, self-handicapping and mastery–avoidance goals than those without. Pain intensity was significantly related to fear of failure, self-handicapping, pain catastrophizing and mastery–avoidance. Self-handicapping and fear of failure contributed significantly to mastery–avoidance variance. Performance–avoidance and –approach goals were explained by fear of failure. Conclusion: CP was common, with sufferers showing more fear of failure and self-handicapping strategies, and being motivated to avoid performing worse (mastery–avoidance). Self-handicapping and fear of failure influenced mastery–avoidance orientation, and fear of failure explained part of performance–avoidance and –approach orientations. Longitudinal studies should explore the role of these factors in the trajectory of CP in these athletes.

Associations between Profiles of Self-Esteem and Achievement Goals and the Protection of Self-Worth in University Students

The high demands of academia and the fear of failure lead some university students to prioritize defending their personal worth through the use of complex strategies such as self-handicapping or defensive pessimism. Adopting a person-centered approach, this study established two objectives: First, to analyze the conformation of different motivational profiles based on the combination of self-esteem and achievement goals (learning, performance approach, and performance avoidance); and second, to determine if the identified profiles differ from one another in the use of self-handicapping and defensive pessimism. A total of 1028 university students participated in the research. Four motivational profiles were obtained: (a) High self-esteem, low learning goals, high performance approach goals, and high performance avoidance goals; (b) high self-esteem, high learning goals, low performance approach goals, and low performance avoidance goals; (c) low self-esteem, low learning goals, high performance approach goals, and high performance avoidance goals; and (d) low self-esteem, high learning goals, high performance approach goals, and medium performance avoidance goals. Profiles (c) and (d) were significantly related to self-handicapping and defensive pessimism, respectively. These results suggest that students with low self-esteem are more vulnerable to self-protection strategies. Additionally, under self-handicapping and defensive pessimism, the achievement goals are slightly different.

The Use of Classmates as a Self-Motivation Strategy From the Perspective of Self-Regulated Learning

It can be stated that self-regulated learning (SRL) brings broad benefits to the process of students’ learning and studying. However, research has yet to be undertaken in relation to one of its components, namely self-regulation of motivation and affectivity. The main objectives of this study are to examine the use of self-motivation strategies that involve classmates and to obtain models on the influence of academic goals and self-efficacy on such self-motivation strategies. To this end, was conducted a study using two different samples of students in the compulsory secondary education or baccalaureate stages in Spain (N = 613 and N = 910). The results obtained indicate that, with regard to gender, differences only exist in the use of the strategy of deception (t = 5.450, p < 0.001, d = 0.364). That the two pairs of strategies positively and significantly correlated with one another (r = 0.239, p < 0.01 and r = 0.355, p < 0.01). That only the strategy of annulation of others correlates with a more adaptive type of motivation. Thus, the group of students that reported the greatest level in its use also did so in relation to task and ego self-enhancing goals, to self-efficacy, and being negatively associated with the goal of work avoidance. Finally, were offered models on relationships between academic goals, self-efficacy and enhancement and annulation strategies [χ²(8) = 5.204, p = 0.736] and deception and annulation strategies [χ²(4) = 3.228, p = 0.520].

Self-handicapping among nursing students: an interventional study

BACKGROUND

Self-handicapping is an effective defense strategy in an individual's behavior that leads to weak performance in different situations like education. This study aimed to investigate how training problem solving skills affected the rate of self-handicapping among nursing students.

METHODS

This interventional study was done in Jahrom, Fars province, Iran during 2016-2017. Totally, 90 nursing students were selected among those admitted from 2013 to 2016 using stratified sampling. Then, the students were randomly divided into a control and an intervention group each including 45 participants. Teaching problem solving skills to the intervention group was completed over six sessions each lasting for two hours. The students' rate of self-handicapping was evaluated based on the scores obtained in Jones and Rodwalt's self-management questionnaire before and after the intervention (immediately and one month later). The data were entered into the SPSS statistical software, version 16 and were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including t-test, chi-square, and repeated measures ANOVA. The significance level was set at 0.05.

RESULTS

The findings revealed a significant difference in the intervention group's self-handicapping scores before and after the intervention (p < 0.001). However, no significant change was observed in this regard in the control group (p = 0.575). The results indicated no significant differences between the intervention and control groups concerning the mean score of self-handicapping immediately after the intervention (p = 0.761). However, a significant difference was detected between the two groups in this regard one month after the intervention (p = 0.014).

CONCLUSION

Teaching problem solving skills influenced the students' beliefs and performances positively and led to a decrease in their self-handicapping. Thus, teaching cognitive-behavioral approaches is recommended to be considered among the ten life skills used in curricular design for medical students, including nurses.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

IRCT 2017011231895  N.Data registered: October 30, 2016.

Effects of Ability and Effort Praise on Children's Failure Attribution, Self-Handicapping, and Performance

Previous research has suggested that children praised for ability are more likely to attribute their failure to low ability compared to those who are praised for effort. At the same time, self-worth theory suggests that when an individual’s self-worth is threatened, they are likely to use a self-serving attributional strategy and self-handicapping. From the perspective of self-worth theory, the present study investigated how ability and effort praise influenced children’s failure attribution, self-handicapping, and their subsequent performance compared to simple informational feedback. Fifth graders (N = 103, average age = 11.2 years, SD = 0.71) were randomly assigned to three praise conditions (ability, effort, or no praise). The results revealed that children praised for ability were more likely to attribute their subsequent failure to non-ability factors and indicate more claimed and behavioral self-handicapping than children who were praised for effort or not praised at all. As behavioral self-handicapping created actual obstacles to progress, children praised for ability made significantly less improvement in their performance than those in the other two groups. In addition, the findings showed that children praised for effort also adopted the claimed self-handicapping and defensive attributional strategies compared to those in the no-praise conditions. These results indicate that parents and teachers should not haphazardly administer praise. Implications for parents, teachers, and future research directions, including the replication of this study in diverse cultural settings, conditions of effort praise, and effects of other types of praise, are discussed.