Self-handicapping Strategies Research Articles

小学生の体育学習における動機づけモデルの検討：動機づけ雰囲気の認知，学習動機，および方略使用の関連

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among perceived motivational climate, learning motives, and strategy use in school physical education classes. A set of inventories was administered to 246 fifth and sixth grade pupils attending elementary schools. The results of structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis indicated that perceptions of mastery-oriented and cooperative motivational climate were associated with pupils' mastery-oriented learning motives, which were in turn related positively to strategy use. Furthermore, perceptions of performance motivational climate were associated with performance-oriented and work avoidance learning motives, which were positively related to the use of self-handicapping strategies. These results suggest that students' perception of mastery-oriented and cooperative motivational climate are more related to adaptive motivational patterns of physical education learning than is the case for perceptions of performance motivational climate. The role of perceptions of motivational climate in promoting the learning motives of pupils and strategy use in physical education classes is discussed.

Self-Esteem at School and Self-Handicapping in Childhood: Comparison of Groups with Learning Disabilities

Recent research has focused on the role of self-esteem and self-handicapping strategies in the school domain. Self-handicapping refers to maladaptive strategies employed by adults and children for protection and maintenance of positive school self esteem. In this study the self-esteem and the self-handicapping strategies of children with dyslexia, reading comprehension disabilities, and mathematical disabilities were compared to a control group with normal learning. There were 56 children whose mean age was 8 (23 girls, 33 boys), attending Grade 3 of primary school. These pupils were selected by scores on a battery of learning tests commonly used in Italy for assessment of learning disabilities. Analyses suggested these children with dyslexia, reading comprehension disabilities, and mathematical disabilities had lower ratings of self-esteem at school and employed more self-handicapping strategies than did children whose learning was normal. More research is required to identify and examine in depth the factors that promote adaptive strategies to cope with children's reading difficulties.

An Analysis of a Single Case of Comorbidity between Learning Disability and Borderline Intellectual Functioning

In this study we explored a case of comorbidity between DSA and Borderline Intellectual Functioning. The girl was fourteen years old, ninth grade of school in Palermo, with significant learning difficulties. Two interviews were conducted, one with parents and one with teachers, to investigate the history of the girl's learning. In the pre-test phase the following cognitive areas were investigated: Q.I. (Level of Intelligence), decoding ability, reading comprehension and writing skills. Motivational-emotional profile was also evaluated: school motivation, self-handicapping strategies, self esteem and school anxiety. To assess these cognitive areas we used: Reading Comprehension Test(Cornoldi & Colpo, 2001), Reading Decoding Test (Cornoldi & Colpo, 2001), Dyslexic and Disorthographic Evaluation Test (Sartori, Job, & Tressoldi, 1995), Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Revised (Wechsler, 1974), Self-Esteem Scale by the TMA (Bracken, 1992), School Motivational Profile (Alesi, Pepi & Rappo, 2011), Self-Handicapping Scale for Children (Waschbusch, Craig, Pelham, & King, 2007) and School Anxiety by the Psychiatric scales of Self-administration for children and adolescents (Cianchetti & Fancello, 2001). After this pre-test phase, the girl took part in T.I.R.D. Multimedia Training for the Rehabilitation of Dyslexia (Rappo & Pepi, 2011), aimed at improving decoding abilities. This training has involved the girl for three months. It consisted of specific tasks to rehabilitate both visual and phonological strategies: sound blending, word segmentation, alliteration test and rhyme test, letter recognition, digraph recognition, trigraph recognition and word recognition are samples of visual tasks. The first four are samples of phonological tasks, while the remaining four are samples of visual tasks. At last, in post-test phase, reading and writing ability were revalued. The emotional-motivational profile to monitor trends was also reappraised. Results show significant improvements from pre-test to post-test in cognitive, emotional and motivational areas investigated.

Train in Vain: The Role of the Self in Claimed Self-Handicapping Strategies

Two field studies investigate the role of self in the tendency of athletes to engage in claimed handicapping strategies during training (anticipatively claiming that handicaps may interfere with their performance). Study 1 tested the relationship between trait self-esteem and athletes' engagement in claimed self-handicapping. As hypothesized, low physical self-esteem athletes claimed more handicaps than high physical self-esteem athletes. For stronger evidence for the causal role of the self, Study 2 tested whether securing athletes' self-worth through self-affirmation would lead to decreased claimed self-handicapping by using a mixed model design that allows for both between-subjects (affirmation vs. control condition) and within-subject comparisons (before vs. after self-affirmation intervention). Self-affirmed athletes had decreased levels of claimed self-handicapping. Studies 1 and 2 also demonstrate that athletes engage in claimed self-handicapping during training, which could have deleterious effects on subsequent performance. Discussion centers on theoretical implications and applications for coaches, sport teachers, and sport psychologists.

Prevention of self-handicapping — The protective function of mastery goals

Drawing on modern diathesis-stress theories which suggest a multiplicative approach to determine one's personal vulnerability status, we posit that the degree of an individual's vulnerability for using self-handicapping strategies in case of self-threatening events depends on the interaction between different vulnerability and protective factors. In this article, we assume that the pursuit of mastery goals buffers the relations between self-handicapping and two frequently cited determinants (low self-esteem, high performance-avoidance goals). In three studies with German high-school and college students, we found empirical evidence for the assumed moderator effect of mastery goals. In studies 1 and 3, performance-avoidance goals were remarkably lower associated with self-handicapping in the group of students highly endorsing mastery goals compared to students who proved to be less mastery oriented. In studies 2 and 3, moreover, individuals' self-esteem was less related to self-handicapping when students strongly emphasized mastery goals. We discuss several implications of these findings for both educational practice and future research on self-handicapping.

The Exploration of the Parental and Individual Psychological Variables affecting Underachievers' Self-handicapping Strategies

The Exploration of the Parental and Individual Psychological Variables affecting Underachievers' Self-handicapping Strategies

Perfectionism, Implicit Theories of Intelligence, and Taiwanese Eighth-Grade Students’ Academic Engagement

ABSTRACT The authors attempted to examine how Taiwanese junior high school students’ perfectionistic tendencies and implicit theories of intelligence were related to their academic emotions and approach versus avoidance self-regulation, and to determine differences in contingent self-worth, emotions, and self-regulation among students with different subtypes of perfectionism. A total of 481 8th-grade Taiwanese students completed a self-reported survey assessing their perfectionistic tendencies, implicit theories of intelligence, academic emotions, behavioral self-regulation, and use of self-handicapping strategies. Results suggested that adaptive perfectionism enabled adolescents to experience positive emotions and to engage in behavioral self-regulation, whereas maladaptive perfectionism was positively associated with negative emotions and self-handicapping. In addition, the incremental theory of intelligence predicted positive affect and constructive coping. By contrast, the entity theory was positively correlated with negative emotions and self-handicapping. The authors also documented profiles of students with different perfectionistic tendencies. Findings showed that in general adaptive perfectionists displayed the healthiest emotions and self-regulatory styles. Implications for education and further research are discussed.

Personal and Contextual Factors Associated With Students’ Cheating in Science

The authors conducted a correlational study to investigate the relations among seventh-grade Turkish students’ cheating behavior, academic self-efficacy beliefs, usage of self-handicapping strategies, personal goal orientations, and classroom goal structures specific to the science domain. The Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales was administered to 1,950 seventh-grade students enrolled in 12 public schools. The authors conducted hierarchical linear modeling analyses to measure to what extent personal and contextual factors can be used to predict students’ cheating behavior. Analyses revealed that although students’ cheating behavior was positively predicted by performance-approach goals, it was negatively predicted by mastery goals. Students who used more self-handicapping strategies and who were less self-efficacious were also more likely to demonstrate cheating behavior. The authors found that the mastery goal–structured science-learning environment, in which understanding the material and self-improvement was emphasized, discouraged cheating.

An experimental investigation of the determinants and consequences of self-handicapping strategies across motivational climates

The aim of the present study was to determine whether the use of claimed and behavioural self-handicaps and their correlates differed across experimentally manipulated motivational climates. Fifty-six competitive basketball players participated in the study. A crossover design was used, such that all participants completed the experimental task (i.e. a test of basketball skill) in both mastery and performance climates. Analyses of variance showed that claimed self-handicaps were used more in the performance than the mastery condition but only for the men. In addition, greater behavioural self-handicapping occurred in the performance than the mastery climate. Contrary to expectation, neither type of self-handicap was related to performance on the basketball task in either climate. These findings reinforce the conceptual distinction between claimed and behavioural self-handicaps and suggest that individual and environmental factors may differentially influence each type of handicap.

Effects of Self-Handicapping Strategies on Anxiety before Athletic Performance

The purpose of the present experiment was to examine whether the use of selfhandicapping strategies influences participants’ anxiety levels before athletic performance. Seventy-one competitive basketball players participated in the study. A repeated measures design was used, such that state cognitive and somatic anxiety intensity and direction were measured before and after participants were given the opportunity to self-handicap. Overall, participants reported their cognitive anxiety to be more facilitating after they had the opportunity to self-handicap. Thus, participants who were given the opportunity to self-handicap (i.e., use claimed and behavioral self-handicaps), reported greater increases in perceptions of cognitive anxiety as facilitating their performance. This study shows the importance of looking at anxiety direction, and not just anxiety intensity, when examining self-handicapping’s effects on anxiety. Implications for sport psychologists are proposed.

On being happy but fearing failure: The effects of mood on self-handicapping strategies

Does temporary mood influence people’s tendency to engage in self-handicapping behaviors? Based on past research on self-handicapping and recent work on affect and social behaviors, this experiment predicted and found that positive mood significantly increased the tendency to engage in two kinds of self-handicapping strategies. Participants ( N = 94) first received contingent or non-contingent positive feedback about performance on a task of ‘cognitive abilities’, and then underwent a positive, neutral, or negative mood induction using video films. Self-handicapping was assessed in terms of their subsequent preference for (a) drinking a performance-enhancing, or performance-inhibiting herbal tea, and (b) engaging or not engaging in performance-enhancing cognitive practice. As predicted, happy mood and non-contingent feedback significantly increased self-handicapping on both measures. The implications of these results for everyday performance tasks, and for recent affect-cognition theories, are discussed.

Achievement Goals, Self-Handicapping, and Performance Attainment: A Mediational Analysis

The present experiment was designed to examine the mediational role of self-handicapping in the relationship between achievement goals and performance on a sport-based activity (i.e., a basketball dribbling task). The achievement goals of the trichotomous achievement goal framework were manipulated, behavioral and self-reported self-handicapping opportunities were provided, and performance attainment was assessed. Performance-avoidance goals led to worse performance and evoked higher levels of behavioral and self-reported self-handicapping than performance-approach and mastery goals. Both forms of self-handicapping were found to have independent mediational effects on decreased performance. Implications for the adoption of achievement goals and the use of self-handicapping strategies are discussed.

Academic Procrastination by Undergraduate Students

Sixteen students participated in a study on reasons for academic procrastination. Sources of the concourse included free-writing by university students, academic literature, magazines, newspapers, web sites, and the researcher's personal experiences. The Q sample of 42 statements was structured around seven elements cited in the literature as influencing academic procrastination: task aversion, perfectionism/fear of failure, decision-making difficulties, self-handicapping strategies, emotions (e.g., defiance), pragmatic concerns, and time management skills. P-set members were undergraduates studying for teacher licensure at a regional campus of a large public university in the United States. They completed Q sorts and wrote explanatory responses to follow-up questions. Thirteen Q sorts became defining sorts in a four-factor solution. Data generated by PQMethod were interpreted in light of students' written comments. Procrastinating for Pleasure included students who were candid about preferring social activities to academic work. Perfectionism at a Price included students who wanted to do high-quality academic work but for whom procrastination exacted an emotional toll in anxiety and self-doubt. Limited by Life included students whose demanding family and work circumstances restricted their time for academic pursuits. Delay by Design included students who deliberately and positively built academic procrastination into their time management strategies. Interpretations of the data and implications for future research are presented.

AN INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIOANSHIPS BETWEEN SOME IMPORTANT AND RELEVANT ANTECEDENTS OF ACADEMIC SELF-HANDICAPPING AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH SELECTED CONSEQUENCES IN AHVAZ NINTH-GRADE BOY STUDENTS

In the present study, the relationships of some personality and motivational antescendents of using academic self-handicapping strategies with the last variable have been examined. In addition, the relationships of self-handicapping with some important consequences were investigated, too. Appropriate scales from Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales (PALS) were given to 436 ninth-grade students selected by multi- stage random sampling method, from 14 boy high schools in the city of Ahvaz, Iran. The results indicated that of all the performance (approach and avoidance) goals, only parents’ performance goal was correlated positively with academic self-handicapping, and of the mastery goals only student’s mastery goal had a negative correlation with academic self-handicapping. The examination of multiple goal profiles revealed that student’s performance approach and avoidance goals have no effect on using self-handicapping strategies with or without student’s mastery goal. The other findings indicated that skepticism about the school relevance for future success positively, and academic efficacy and prior academic performance negatively predicted academic self handicapping. Hierarchical Regression analyses indicated that all of the predictor variables have multiple relationship with academic self-handicapping. Moreover, self-handicapping was negatiely correlated with subsequent academic performance and positively with attitudes toward cheating and cheating behavior. Finally, some explanations were given to shed light on the findings of the study.

教室の目標構造の知覚，個人の達成目標志向，学習方略の関連性

We examined the relations among students' perceptions of classroom goal structures (mastery and performance goal structures), students' achievement goal orientations (mastery, performance, and work-avoidance goals), and learning strategies (deep processing, surface processing and self-handicapping strategies). Participants were 323 5th and 6th grade students in elementary schools. The results from structural equation modeling indicated that perceptions of classroom mastery goal structures were associated with students' mastery goal orientations, which were in turn related positively to the deep processing strategies and academic achievement. Perceptions of classroom performance goal stractures proved associated with work avoidance-goal orientations, which were positively related to the surface processing and self-handicapping strategies. Two types of goal structures had a positive relation with students' performance goal orientations, which had significant positive effects on academic achievement. The results of this study suggest that elementary school students' perceptions of mastery goal structures are related to adaptive patterns of learning more than perceptions of performance goal structures are. The role of perceptions of classroom goal structure in promoting students' goal orientations and learning strategies is discussed.

Transition From Elementary to Middle School and Change in Motivation: An Examination of Chinese Students

This study examines whether a change in motivation occurred from 5th-grade elementary school to 6th-grade middle level school for students in the People's Republic of China, as had been identified among U.S. students. A total of 260 Chinese students, 138 in the 5th grade and 122 in the 6th grade, participated in the study. The students' motivation was examined using the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Survey in the following aspects: personal achievement goal orientations, perceptions of the classroom goal structure, academic efficacy, academic self-handicapping strategies, and cultural dissonance between home and school. While no significant difference was reported between male and female students, significant main effects were found between students in the 5th and 6th grades. Specifically, a significant difference was found in two out of eight subcategories: performance approach goal orientation and cultural dissonance between home and school. The findings indicate that the causes of difference in the Chinese students' motivation by grade/school level could be different from those of their U.S. counterparts.

Tendency to self-handicapping in the situation of expected failure

The basic objective of this research is to determine what type of self-handicapping strategies subjects will use when they face potential failure, under the condition that they have the possibility of strategy choice. Another research objective is directed to the research of relation between the selected self-handicapping strategy and personality characteristics. 120 student of the second and third year of the Department of psychology, University of Novi Sad has been taken into sample. In the first research stage, all students administrated a series of personality self-report tests. In the second experiment stage, the participants were divided into four groups, on the basis of two criteria: the solvability of intelligence test tasks and the presence of hampering factors during task solving. The research results show that there are at least two types of self-handicapping strategies. One type is used by the majority of people when found in the situation where potential failure is expected. It refers to searching for alibis in external circumstances and it is probably the reflection of sound tendencies of facing possible consequences of information on one?s own incompetence. Another type of strategies presents consistent behaviour pattern, determined by the higher degree of adverse affectivity and negative image of oneself, and it is manifested in the use of poor psychophysical condition as the alibi for failure.

Students' Goals, Self-Efficacy, Self-Handicapping, and Negative Affective Responses: An Australian Senior School Student Study

The development of a goal theory model of student motivation in schools has gained momentum over the past decade. Goal theory seeks to understand the relationships between student achievement behaviors. Correlates of achievement behaviors include academic goal orientations, affect, and academic self-efficacy. This paper reports the results of a repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance investigating the changes that occur regarding these variables for a sample of final year Australian secondary education students, over time and between sexes. Results of the study show significant increases occurring in students' negative affect, performance-avoidance goal orientations, and self-handicapping strategies and decreases in performance-approach goal orientation and academic self-efficacy. Significant gender differences were also identified in the data. Canonical correlation analysis was also carried out to identify relationships between sets of variables. Results indicate a significant relationship between negative affect coupled with high levels of performance-approach goal orientation and low levels of self-handicapping strategies.

'Laddishness' as a Self-worth Protection Strategy

'Laddishness' is central to the current discourse on boys' 'underachievement', with 'laddish' behaviours being seen by many people as an impediment to the progress of some boys in school. The article attempts to demonstrate how self-worth theory may complement and extend our understandings of 'laddish' behaviours, which are currently informed by theories of masculinities. More specifically, it is argued that it may be the case that for some secondary school boys, the construct of 'laddishness' acts as a self-worth protection strategy - protecting self-worth both from the implications of a lack of ability and from the implications of being seen to be feminine. The argument is developed by comparing characteristics of key self-worth protection or self-handicapping strategies with the behaviours reported by teachers, pupils and researchers to be characteristics of 'laddish' behaviour.

Self-handicapping strategies in physical education classes: the influence of implicit theories of the nature of ability and achievement goal orientations

Aim: To investigate the role of implicit theories of ability and achievement goals on self-handicapping strategies in physical education classes. Hypotheses: It was expected that incremental theories of ability would be negatively associated with self-handicapping strategies, whereas fixed theories of ability would enhance pupils’ self-reported use of such strategies. It was also hypothesised that low perceived competence would reinforce self-handicapping among pupils holding fixed theories of ability and an ego goal orientation. Method: A cross-sectional study of 9th graders in Norway ( N =343; 166 boys and 177 girls) was conducted in which pupils responded to a questionnaire measuring sub-dimensions of fixed and incremental theories of ability, achievement goal orientations, perceived competence and self-handicapping in physical education. Results: Regression-based path analyses revealed that a fixed theory of ability had a direct positive effect on self-handicapping. The effects of an incremental implicit theory of ability on self-handicapping were negative and mediated by a task orientation. High perceived competence was found to buffer the aversive affect of holding a stable theory of ability on self-handicapping. Conclusion: The findings illustrate the importance of studying implicit motivational beliefs in physical education classes in order to provide an understanding of self-handicapping strategies among pupils.