Academic self-handicapping: What we know, what more there is to learn

Some students put of studying until the last minute, fool around the night before a test, and otherwise reduce effort so that if their subsequent perf ormance is low, these circumstances will be seen as the cause rather than l ack of ability. These strategies are called self-handicapping because they often undermine performance. In this paper, we begin with a definition of a cademic self-handicapping Next, we review our research in which we used ach ievement goal theory as a framework for examining academic handicapping amo ng elementary and middle school students. We discuss the implications of th e recent conceptualization of approach and avoidance components of performa nce goals for handicapping We conclude with a consideration of some potenti ally fruitful future directions for research on academic self-handicapping, focusing particularly on individual differences in handicapping, contextua l influences, and the methods used to study handicapping.