Self-Handicapping and Subsequent Performance: Role of Outcome Valence and Attributional Certainty

Self-handicapping (Jones & Berglas, 1978) involves the choice of an impediment to successful performance that permits one to externalize feedback which might otherwise disconfirm a desired self-conception. The present investigation (a) demonstrated the appeal of external handicaps (i.e., choosing nondiagnostic performance settings), (b) explored the possibility that individuals are motivated to self-handicap following failure to avoid information which would confirm a negative self-conception, (c) examined the role of attributional certainty in the self-handicapping process, and (d) tested the effects of self-handicapping on subsequent performance. Eighty male and female participants took an ability test and received either success or failure feedback that was response contingent or noncontingent. Participants were then provided with the choice of listening to performance facilitating, debilitating, or neutral music while taking a second ability test. Only male participants receiving noncontingent success feedback showed a clear preference for the debilitating option. However, after choosing the self-handicapping option, noncontingent success males performed more poorly on the subsequent test than those who elected not to self-handicap. The few failure feedback participants who did choose performance-debilitating music performed significantly better than those failure participants who chose other performance conditions. These findings are discussed in terms of the mediating role of the self-attribution for success or failure in the employment of self-handicapping strategies.