Determinants of Self-Handicapping
- 1 March 1989
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
- Vol. 15 (1) , 101-112
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167289151010
Abstract
In an effort to uncover some of the determinants of self-handicapping, male and female introductory psychology students chose to listen to either facilitating or interfering music prior to taking a test described either as a valid or an invalid predictor of academic success. In addition, half of the subjects were led to believe that a preexisting distracter, or handicap, was already present in the environment whereas the remainder were not. Results revealed that self-handicapping occurred in anticipation of an important task, but only when there was no preexisting handicap. Attributions for success and failure revealed a clear self-serving bias, replicating earlier work. The results are discussed in terms of the attributional and practical utility of convenient excuses versus self-generated self-handicaps.Keywords
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