Perfectionism, Locus of Control, Fear of Failure and Self-Handicapping Behaviour: A Correlational Study

Abstract

The major objectives of the present study were to assess the relationship among perfectionism, fear of failure, self-handicapping behaviour and locus of control. A sample of 88 people aged be-tween 15-70 years was collected using the purposive sampling technique, and distributed via google forms. The sample included 57 males and 31 females. Rotter’s locus of control scale, The Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory (PFAI), Multidimensional perfectionism scale by Hewitt and Flett’s, 45-item inventory (Hewitt & Flett, 1991, 2004) and self-handicapping scale were used to assess internal locus of control, fear of failure, perfectionism and self-handicapping behaviour. The obtained data was analysed using the general statistical techniques of mean, standard devia-tion, and Pearson correlation. Some noteworthy results were obtained and it was concluded that there is a significant relationship between perfectionism, fear of failure, locus of control and self-handicapping behaviour. The following correlations among the variables were also found: (a) A positive correlation between perfectionism and self-handicapping behaviour. (b) A negative correlation between internal locus of control and self-handicapping behaviour (c) A positive correlation between fear of failure and self-handicapping behaviour. (d) A negative correlation between internal locus of control and fear of failure. (e) A negative correlation be-tween fear of failure and perfectionism.