Behavioral Self-Handicaps Versus Self-Reported Handicaps. A Conceptual Note

An examination of the literature on self-handicapping reveals that the construct has been operationalized in two different ways. Some writers have regarded self-handicapping as a behavioral strategy that would be expected to make success on a task more difficult, thereby augmenting a nonability explanation for failure. Other writers have treated self-handicapping as a verbal claim that one's performance has been handicapped by factors beyond one's control. These two uses of the term are discussed, and recommendations are made regarding ways of resolving the conceptual confusion resulting from using a single term to refer to both phenomena. © 1986 American Psychological Association.

Duke Scholars

Author Mark R. Leary Psychology & Neuroscience