Self-Handicapping

Abstract

A Continuation Order Plan is available for this series. A continuation order will bring delivery of each new volume immediately upon publication. Volumes are billed only upon actual shipment. For further information please contact the publisher. rence, Kansas 66045 vii FOREWORDThe concept of self-handicapping can be legitimately anchored in a variety of intellectual contexts, some old and some newer. As this volume reminds us, Alfred Adler was perhaps the first to articulate the significance of various self-defeating claims and gestures for protecting the selfconcept. Thus the apparent paradox of "defeat" in the interests of "protection." More recently (but still more than 30 years ago), Heider's "naive psychology" added attributional rhetoric to the description of self-defeating strategies. While predominantly cognitive in its thrust, the attributional approach incorporated several motivational influences-especially those involving egocentric concerns. Heider hardly violated our common sense when he suggested that people are inclined to attribute their performances in a self-serving manner: the good things I caused; the bad things were forced upon me. The notion of self-handicapping strategies, proposed by Berglas and myself a little more than a decade ago, capitalized on these homely truths while adding a particular proactive twist. We not only make excuses for our blunders; we plan our engagements and our situational choices so that self-protective excuses are unnecessary. In doing so, we use our attributional understanding to arrange things so that flawed and failing performances will not be interpreted in ways that threaten our self-esteem.But do all of us do these things? Surely, the topics of excuse making-in the forms of procrastination, of distraction, of preparation failures, of headaches, colds, and hangovers-are so much a part of cultural lore that we can acknowledge our (occasional?) use of such explanations for failure in a self-mocking manner. A prominent concern of this volume are those points of transition between healthy egoix x FOREWORD centrism and pathological internalizations of self-handicapping styles.

On the Impact of Mood on Behavior: An Integrative Theory and a Review

“…Simultaneously, it facilitates minimally negative affect after failure, because the task was extremely difficult and—at least according to participants' self-reports—even exceeded their own abilities, which reduced their responsibility for potential failures. According to this line of thought, the findings of Cervone et al and J. Wright and Mischel are interpretable as indicating a self-handicapping strategy (see R. Higgins, Snyder, & Berglas, 1990) to minimize further negative affect and to maximize potential positive affect.…”

Making sense of misfortune: Deservingness, self-esteem, and patterns of self-defeat.

“…In Studies 3a and 3b, we tested whether beliefs about deservingness brought about by experiencing/recalling bad breaks affects claimed self-handicapping. Self-handicapping involves claiming or creating an excuse or disadvantage prior to performing a task that may serve as a ready-made explanation in the event of failure (for reviews, see Higgins, Snyder, & Berglas, 1990 ; Hirt & McCrea, 2002 ; Rhodewalt, 2008 ). Self-handicapping is believed to serve a self-protective function because, in the short-term, it enables people to maintain positive self-esteem in light of task failure by attributing poor performance to a self-handicap instead of a lack of ability.…”

A burden of proof: Stereotype relevance and gender differences in math performance.

“…Behavioral self-handicapping has been demonstrated in numerous studies through drug and alcohol ingestion, lack of preparation, a choice of distracting surroundings, and the like (see Higgins, Snyder, & Berglas, 1990, for a review). Researchers have also argued that the claim of personal handicaps, even after a performance, serves the same self-protective, attributional function of behavioral self-handicaps, and thus these verbal excuses should be categorized along with preemptive roadblocks to success (Snyder & Smith, 1982).…”