Do Athletes Claim Handicaps in Low Ego-Threatening Conditions? Re-Examining the Effect of Ego-Threat on Claimed Self-Handicapping

Abstract

One hundred and three athletes participated in a motor task that was ostensibly designed to detect their physical ability (high ego-threatening condition) or provide pretesting data for an upcoming study (low ego-threatening condition) and were then given the opportunity to claim handicaps that could impair their performance on this task. Extending previous findings that high self-handicappers (i.e., athletes who scored high on the self-handicapping scale) and low self-esteem athletes engage in claimed self-handicapping in high ego-threatening conditions, the results reveal that they may also engage in this strategy in low ego-threatening conditions. In the low ego-threatening condition, athletes’ self-esteem and self-handicapping tendency explained together 33% of the handicaps they claimed.

Trait self-esteem and claimed self-handicapping motives in sports situations

“…Consistent with this idea, several researchers have demonstrated that trait self-esteem is related to engagement in self-handicapping strategies (Finez, Berjot, Rosnet, & Cleveland, 2011;Martin & Brawley, 2002;Prapavessis & Grove, 1998). More specifically, in the domain of sport, trait physical selfesteem -which reflects relatively stable differences in the perception of self-worth in terms of physical ability, physical self-efficacy and coordination (Fleming & Courtney, 1984) -was related to engagement in self-handicapping (Finez et al, 2011;Martin & Brawley, 2002).…”

“…More specifically, in the domain of sport, trait physical selfesteem -which reflects relatively stable differences in the perception of self-worth in terms of physical ability, physical self-efficacy and coordination (Fleming & Courtney, 1984) -was related to engagement in self-handicapping (Finez et al, 2011;Martin & Brawley, 2002). These studies demonstrated that athlete's self-ratings of physical self-esteem were especially strong predictors of self-handicapping during physical tests compared with global trait self-esteem.…”

“…Low selfesteem athletes reported more claimed self-handicapping during their careers relative to high self-esteem athletes. Other researchers that studied athletes' engagement in claimed self-handicapping in situations where both motives were present also observed a negative relationship between athletes' self-esteem and their engagement in this strategy (Coudevylle, Martin Ginis, & Famose, 2008;Finez et al, 2011;Martin & Brawley, 2002, Study 2;Prapavessis & Grove, 1998). These findings could be explained by the fact that, compared with high self-esteem individuals, low self-esteem individuals are particularly sensitive to the opinion of others (see Baumeister et al, 1989) -and thus may be more willing to engage in strategies to protect or enhance their public image of competence.…”

Self-Handicapping in Athletes: The Role of Self-Esteem, Achievement Goals and Fear of Failure

“…20,21,24,25,50 Prapavessis ve Grove tarafından yapılan bir çalışmada, 109 erkek golf oyuncusunun benlik saygıları ile kendini sabotaj eğilimleri incelenmiş ve düşük benlik saygısına sahip olan sporcuların kendini sabotaj eğiliminde oldukları belirlenmiştir. 25 Bir başka çalışmada, 31 basketbol oyuncusunun ego tehditi altında kaldıkları durumlarda, düşük benlik saygısına sahip olan sporcuların kendini sabotaj stratejilerine başvur-dukları sonucuna varılmıştır.…”

“…25 Bir başka çalışmada, 31 basketbol oyuncusunun ego tehditi altında kaldıkları durumlarda, düşük benlik saygısına sahip olan sporcuların kendini sabotaj stratejilerine başvur-dukları sonucuna varılmıştır. 50 Kendini sabotaj eğiliminin yordanmasına yönelik edinilen diğer bir bulgu ise sporcuların başarısızlık korkularının kendini sabotaj eğilim-lerini belirlediği ve aralarındaki ilişkinin pozitif olduğudur. Elde edilen bu bulgu doğrultusunda, başarısızlığın istenmeyen sonuçlarından kaçan ve başarısız olma hâlinden korkan sporcuların, önemli bir müsabaka ya da antrenman öncesinde kendilerini sabote etme eğiliminde oldukları söylene-bilmektedir.…”