Self-handicapping status, claimed self-handicaps and reduced practice effort following success and failure feedback

Background. Self-handicapping involves the strategic establishment of an im pediment or obstacle to success prior to a performance situation which ther eby provides a convenient excuse for poor performance. Aims. The study sought to establish that relative to low trait self-handica ppers, high trait self-handicappers exposed to failure in an intellectually evaluative situation will (a) pre-emptively claim more handicaps, and (b) behaviourally self-handicap through reduced practice effort, and (c) report greater anxiety and negative affect relative to low trait self-handicapper s. Sample. Participants were 72 undergraduate students, divided equally betwee n high and low self-handicapping groups. Method. This study utilised a 2 (self-handicapping status: high, low) x 3 ( performance feedback: fail, low task importance; fail, high task importance ; success) between-subjects factorial design to investigate claimed and beh avioural self-handicapping through reduced practice effort. This was done b y manipulating performance outcome and perceived task importance. Results. Relative to low trait self-handicappers, high trait high self-hand icappers claimed more handicaps and engaged in greater behavioural self-han dicapping following failure when working on tasks that were described as po tentially diagnostic of low ability. While low self-handicappers internalis ed their success more than their failure in the high task importance condit ion, high self-handicappers were undifferentiated in their attributions acr oss performance conditions. Greater anxiety and greater negative affect wer e also characteristic of high self-handicappers. Conclusions. The study highlights the self-protective benefit of self-handi capping in sparing the individual from conclusions of low ability, and the failure of high self-handicappers to fully internalise their success. These elements and the role of uncertain estimates of ability are discussed in c onsidering implications for intervention.