Academic self-handicapping as a mediator of the relation between imposterism and academic goal orientation: testing invariance by gender and underrepresented status.

Objective: Imposterism and academic self-handicapping (ASH) are related to negative outcomes in college students. We examined whether the relationship between imposterism and academic goal orientations is mediated by ASH across men and women and for students who are underrepresented on campus. Participants: Participants were 852 undergraduates (29.1% men, 26.1% first-generation, and 22.1% from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups at the predominantly white institution (PWI) where data was gathered). Methods: Participants completed self-report scales assessing imposterism, ASH, and academic goal orientation. Results: ASH partially mediated the relationship of imposterism to mastery and performance approach academic goal orientations. High imposterism was directly related to high performance-avoidance orientation. Our model was invariant to gender; while it did not appear to be invariant to underrepresented status, this was accounted for by first-generation student status. Conclusions: Results have implications for the classroom and creation of interventions to minimize ASH and imposterism and their impact on student success.

The Collective Influence of Intolerance of Uncertainty, Cognitive Test Anxiety, and Academic Self-Handicapping on Learner Outcomes: Evidence for a Process Model.

Research on achievement emotions and behaviors has routinely demonstrated connections to student performance. This study approaches the work from a perspective of greater integration of multiple variables and examines potential nonlinear relationships among intolerance of uncertainty, cognitive test anxiety, academic self-handicapping, and student performance. Using structured equations modeling and generalized additive modeling, our results confirm better predictions of student performance when using both multivariate and curvilinear analyses. Optimal prediction of GPA was achieved when considering all three variables in conjunction through a serial mediation model. Specifically, the analyses demonstrated that intolerance of uncertainty tended to activate learners' cognitive test anxiety, which increased the potential of engaging in academic self-handicapping, resulting in lower levels of GPA. The results are consistent with process models of test anxiety that identify the critical role of learners' appraisals of evaluative stressors as well as the coping strategies employed when stressors are activated. Finally, curvilinear analyses confirmed that student GPA was related to academic self-handicapping and cognitive test anxiety in complex ways but largely demonstrated that as the levels of self-handicapping and/or cognitive test anxiety increased, performance declined. However, the degree of severity in reduced GPA was most severe for learners with elevations in both.

Beat People but Not Face: The Role of Perceived Face Threat in the Influence of Abusive Supervision on Employee Feedback Seeking.

One of the purposes for superiors to abuse subordinates is to obtain a positive response from subordinates by conveying a negative attitude. However, abusive behavior cannot guarantee positive behaviors due to the differences in subordinates' characteristics, such as feedback seeking. Based on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study explores the relationship between abusive supervision by superiors and feedback seeking by subordinates in East Asian cultures. Questionnaires were collected from multiple time points and multiple sources. Datum analysis was performed on 318 paired questionnaires between employees and direct supervisors. The results showed that: (1) Employees' perceived face threat has a mediating effect on the relationship between abusive supervision and feedback seeking. (2) Self-affirmation of subordinates positively moderates the relationship between abusive supervision and perceived face threat. (3) Self-handicapping of subordinates positively moderates the relationship between perceived face threat and feedback seeking. This not only explains the mechanism of perceived face threat in the influence of abusive supervision on employees' feedback-seeking behavior, but also reveals the boundary effect of employees' self-affirmation and self-handicapping characteristics in it, which expands the theoretical explanation framework of the influence of abusive supervision on employees' feedback-seeking behavior and also provides new ideas for managers to better implement management in the organization.

Cues to deception: can complications, common knowledge details, and self-handicapping strategies discriminate between truths, embedded lies and outright lies in an Italian-speaking sample?

Deception research has shown that analysing verbal content can be effective to distinguish between truths and lies. However, most verbal cues are cues to truthfulness (truth tellers report the cue more than lie tellers), whereas cues to deception (lie tellers report the cue more than truth tellers) are largely absent. The complication approach, measuring complications (cue to truthfulness), common knowledge details (cue to deception), self-handicapping strategies (cue to deception), and the ratio of complications, aims to fill this gap in the literature. The present experiment examined the effectiveness of the complication approach when varying the amount of lying, with an Italian sample. Seventy-eight participants were assigned to one of three different experimental conditions: Truth tellers (telling the truth about the event), embedders (providing a mixture of truthful and false information) and outright lie tellers (providing false information). Participants were interviewed about a past experience concerning an out of the ordinary event. Complications discriminated truth tellers from lie tellers. The absence of significant effects for common knowledge details and self-handicapping strategies, the limitations of the experiment and suggestions for future research are discussed.

A tool to act blind? Object-assisted eye-covering as a self-handicapping behavior and social play signal in Balinese long-tailed macaques.

Self-handicapping behaviors evolved as honest signals that reliably reflect the quality of their performers. In playful activities, self-handicapping is described as intentionally and unnecessarily putting oneself into disadvantageous positions and situations. Self-handicapping during play may allow individuals to learn to cope with unexpected events by improving sensori-motor coordination, as well as function as a play solicitation signal. One such self-handicapping behavior involves moving about while deliberately covering one's eyes. We conducted a quantitative study of object-assisted eye-covering (OAEC) in a population of free-ranging Balinese macaques. After evaluating the frequency, form, distribution, and context of OAEC, we measured the responses this behavior elicited (1) in the performers with a focus on sensori-motor self-handicapping, and (2) in their conspecifics, with an emphasis on whether, and if so how, OAEC may facilitate social play. Our data provided some support for several hypotheses: OAEC is a sensori-motor self-handicapping behavior, an attention-getting cue, a social play signal, and a socially self-handicapping tactic during social play. We discuss our results from the perspective of tool-assisted self-handicapping behavior, propose a scenario to account for the emergence of this behavioral innovation, and speculate on the cultural nature of OAEC.

The effect of social networks on academic self-handicapping with the mediating role of self-regulatory learning strategies and academic achievement among EFL students.

Introduction: In the academic context, social networking sites (SNSs) have reshaped the way university students connect and communicate with each other and the way they learn, thus influencing their identities and dimensions. This research investigates the effect of social networks on academic self-handicapping with the mediating role of self-regulatory and academic achievement. Method: The current study is considered to be quantitative research in terms of its nature, applied research in terms of its purpose, and correlational descriptive one in terms of its method. The statistical population of the present study includes all language students of Tabriz University, whose number was 540 people. Sampling was done by the random sampling method. Using Morgan's table, the sample size was estimated to be 225 people in 2022. Due to the possibility of falling, 10% was added to this number, and 250 questionnaires were distributed among 250 participants; 17 questionnaires were incomplete, and a total of 233 valid questionnaires were examined. Four questionnaires were administered to collect data. SPSS 26 and AMOS 24 software were used to analyze the collected data from questionnaires. Descriptive, inferential, and Structural Covariance Matrix (SEM) statistics were conducted to explore the effect of social networks on these variables. Results: Findings showed that social networks significantly impact self-handicapping in language students of Tabriz University. 2- Social networks have a significant impact on self- self-handicapping with a mediating role of self-regulation learning strategies in language students of Tabriz University. 3- Social networks significantly affect self-handicapping, mediating role in language students' academic progress at Tabriz University. Discussion: Further investigation and experimentation into social networks are strongly recommended. In addition, studies show that self-handicapping is successful in helping individuals divert the assessments of others from attributing weak abilities to failure. Because self-handicapping behavior undermines achievement and can lead to long-term withdrawal from activities (such as school and college), parents and teachers must discourage self-handicapping and avoid behavior that may encourage it.

Relative Deprivation Leads to the Endorsement of "Anti-Chicken Soup" in China.

"Anti-chicken soup" (ACS) persuades people to yield to reality and give up rather than encouraging people to work hard as "chicken soup" does. The current study explored whether people with a higher level of relative deprivation (RD) would be more likely to endorse ACS. We found that people with high-measured (Study 1) and manipulated (Study 2) RD were more likely to endorse ACS. Study 2 also suggested that the effect was mediated by self-handicapping. It seems that relatively deprived individuals may adopt the strategy of self-handicapping so that they could attribute their failure to external causes, which in turn leads to lower motivation to try their best and ultimately the endorsement of ACS.

Elite Athletes' Perfectionistic Striving vs. Concerns as Opposing Predictors of Self-Handicapping With the Mediating Role of Attributional Style.

Self-handicapping is not only present among amateurs, but also even among the most elite athletes. The vast majority of the research investigates self-handicapping in academic context among students with mediocre performance. However, scientific examinations of predictors among top performers in the field of sports is terra incognita. Among the predictors of self-handicapping, perfectionistic strivings, and concerns as well as attributional style, were demonstrated as relevant ones among samples in prior studies. However, these links have never been examined among elite athletes who can be characterized by various aspects of perfectionism. In this study, the link between self-handicapping and perfectionistic striving and concerns was examined both directly and indirectly through the potential mediating effect of attributional style among elite athletes (N = 111) where more than half of the participants was competing at international level such as European and World Championships or Olympic Games. As it was expected, a positive relationship was found between perfectionistic concerns and self-handicapping, whereas the findings suggested a negative relationship between perfectionistic striving and self-handicapping. These connections were partially mediated by attributions for negative sport-related events. It appears that explanations for negative events are crucial in connection with protecting oneself through self-handicapping even among top athletes. The present work is a first step of a broader program in which the goal is reducing self-handicapping of top athletes through attributional retraining intervention.

Self-handicapping strategies in educational context: construction and validation of the Brazilian Self-Handicapping Strategies Scale (EEAPREJ).

Self-handicapping strategies refer to the set of choices and attitudes adopted to minimize blame for failure and increase the value of success in achievement situations. This paper aims to describe the stages of construction and the psychometric analysis of a scale to measure the self-handicapping strategies of university students. In study 1, the major steps for the construction of the scales and initial results are reported. The internal consistency indices were acceptable and the principal component analysis revealed factors with little explanation of data variance. In study 2, data from a sample of 834 students from several undergraduate courses of different Brazilian universities were subjected to exploratory factor analysis using the minimum rank factor analysis (MRFA) method and the matrix of polychoric correlations. The parallel analysis criterion for factor retention indicated the one-factor solution as the best fit to data. The importance of having a valid and reliable measure to assess self-handicapping strategies in educational contexts and the promising use of the scale in actions to improve learning in higher education are discussed.

Self-handicapping strategies in educational context: construction and validation of the Brazilian Self-Handicapping Strategies Scale (EEAPREJ)

Abstract Self-handicapping strategies refer to the set of choices and attitudes adopted to minimize blame for failure and increase the value of success in achievement situations. This paper aims to describe the stages of construction and the psychometric analysis of a scale to measure the self-handicapping strategies of university students. In study 1, the major steps for the construction of the scales and initial results are reported. The internal consistency indices were acceptable and the principal component analysis revealed factors with little explanation of data variance. In study 2, data from a sample of 834 students from several undergraduate courses of different Brazilian universities were subjected to exploratory factor analysis using the minimum rank factor analysis (MRFA) method and the matrix of polychoric correlations. The parallel analysis criterion for factor retention indicated the one-factor solution as the best fit to data. The importance of having a valid and reliable measure to assess self-handicapping strategies in educational contexts and the promising use of the scale in actions to improve learning in higher education are discussed.

The relationship between complications, common knowledge details and self-handicapping strategies and veracity: a meta-analysis / La relación de las complicaciones, los detalles de observación común y las estrategias de autojustificación con la veracidad: un meta-análisis

Practitioners frequently inform us that variable 'total details' is not suitable for lie detection purposes in real life interviews. Practitioners cannot count the number of details in real time and the threshold of details required to classify someone as a truth teller or a lie teller is unknown. The authors started to address these issues by examining three new verbal veracity cues: complications, common knowledge details, and self-handicapping strategies. We present a meta-analysis regarding these three variables and compared the results with 'total details'. Truth tellers reported more details (d = 0.28 to d = 0.45) and more complications (d = 0.51 to d = 0.62) and fewer common knowledge details (d = -0.40 to d = -0.46) and self-handicapping strategies (d = -0.37 to d = -0.50) than lie tellers. Complications was the best diagnostic veracity cue. The findings were similar for the initial free recall and the second recall in which only new information was examined. Four moderators (scenario, motivation, modality, and interview technique) did not affect the results. As a conclusion, complications in particular appear to be a good veracity indicator but more research is required. We included suggestions for such research. (AU)

Los profesionales dicen con frecuencia que la variable "detalles totales" es adecuada para la detección de mentiras en las entrevistas de la vida real. No pueden contar el número de detalles en tiempo real y se desconoce el umbral de detalles necesario para clasificar a alguien como sincero o mentiroso. Los autores comenzaron a abordar estos temas analizando tres nuevos indicadores verbales de veracidad: las complicaciones, los detalles de conocimiento público y las estrategias de falta de capacidad. Se presenta un meta-análisis de estas tres variables y se comparan los resultados con los "detalles totales". Los sujetos que dicen la verdad dan más detalles (d = 0.28 hasta d = 0.45) y complicaciones (d = 0.51 hasta d = 0.62) y menos detalles de conocimiento público (d = -0.40 hasta d = -0.46) y estrategias de justificación (d = -0.37 hasta d = -0.50) que los que mienten. Las complicaciones resultaron ser el mejor indicador diagnóstico de veracidad. Los resultados fueron iguales en la primera entrevista en recuerdo libre y en la segunda entrevista, en la que solo se analizaba información nueva. No influyeron en los resultados cuatro moderadores: el escenario, la motivación, la modalidad y la técnica de entrevista. Como conclusión, las complicaciones parecen ser un buen indicador de veracidad aunque es necesaria más investigación. Se discuten las futuras líneas de investigación. (AU)

Self-Handicapping in Chinese Medical Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Academic Anxiety, Procrastination and Hardiness.

Background: In the face of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) outbreak, Chinese medical students worried about their future studies which might make them more susceptible to academic anxiety. Previous studies have shown that academic anxiety is an important risk factor for self-handicapping, but there are few studies to explore the relationship between the two which may be mediated or moderated by other variables. Therefore, this study investigated how Chinese medical students' academic anxiety is correlated to their self-handicapping in time of COVID-19 epidemic, and explored the moderating and mediating effects of hardiness and procrastination. Methods: In this study, 320 Chinese medical students' psychological traits were measured with Academic Anxiety Questionnaire, Self-Handicapping Scale, General Procrastination Scale and Hardiness Scale to explore the potential associations between these variables. Results: The most obvious finding to emerge from this study was that self- handicapping had a positive correlation with academic anxiety and procrastination, but had a negative correlation with hardiness; hardiness had a negative association with academic anxiety and procrastination; and academic anxiety and procrastination were positively correlated. In addition, the relationship between academic anxiety and self-handicapping of Chinese medical students was not only partially mediated by procrastination, but also moderated by hardiness. Furthermore, medical students who had lower hardiness had stronger direct effect, while the indirect effect was strong at high and low conditions of hardiness. Conclusion: In time of the COVID-19 epidemic, the academic anxiety and self-handicapping of medical students are influenced by procrastination and hardiness to a great extent. Thus, in addition to suggesting that more attention should be paid to the academic anxiety and procrastination of medical students, in the future, more attention should be paid to cultivating the hardiness of medical students and exerting its interventional role in self-handicapping.

Achievement Goals, Fear of Failure and Self-Handicapping in Young Elite Athletes with and without Chronic Pain.

BACKGROUND: Pain is a common problem in elite athletes. This exploratory study compares goal orientations towards sport, fear of failure, self-handicapping and pain catastrophizing between active young elite athletes with and without chronic pain (CP) complaints (longer than three months). It examines the associations between chronic pain, fear of failure, goal orientations, self-handicapping and pain catastrophizing in young elite athletes. We explore how far goal orientation can be explained by these factors. METHODS: Young elite athletes completed an online questionnaire. DATA ANALYSIS: Independent samples t-test, correlational analyses and multivariate regression analyses. RESULTS: Participants were 132 young elite athletes (mean 16 years); data for 126 were analyzed. A total of 47% reported current pain, of which 60% had CP. Adolescents with CP showed significantly more pain intensity, fear of failure, self-handicapping and mastery-avoidance goals than those without. Pain intensity was significantly related to fear of failure, self-handicapping, pain catastrophizing and mastery-avoidance. Self-handicapping and fear of failure contributed significantly to mastery-avoidance variance. Performance-avoidance and -approach goals were explained by fear of failure. CONCLUSION: CP was common, with sufferers showing more fear of failure and self-handicapping strategies, and being motivated to avoid performing worse (mastery-avoidance). Self-handicapping and fear of failure influenced mastery-avoidance orientation, and fear of failure explained part of performance-avoidance and -approach orientations. Longitudinal studies should explore the role of these factors in the trajectory of CP in these athletes.

Atribuições de causalidade, estratégias autoprejudiciais e a autopercepção de desempenho de universitários / Atribuciones causales, estrategias autoperjudiciales y desempeño autopercibido de estudiantes universitarios / Causal Attributions, Self-Handicapping Strategies and Self-Perceived Performance in Undergraduate Students

As atribuições de causalidade intrapessoais, as estraté-gias autoprejudiciais e a autopercepção de desempenho são construtos psicológicos presentes na rotina aca-dêmica e estão associados à motivação para aprender. O presente estudo investigou o funcionamento destes construtos em uma amostra de 532 estudantes brasileiros de uma universidade particular do interior de São Paulo (Midade=22.98; dp=5.12). Estes estudantes responderam os seguintes instrumentos: Escala de Avaliação das Atribuições de Causalidade para Sucesso e Fracasso Acadêmico de Universitários; Escala de Estratégias Autoprejudiciais; Questionário de Autoclassificação de Desempenho. Identificou-se que as atribuições de causalidade internas e controláveis estavam associadas ao menor uso de estratégias autoprejudiciais. Os estu-dantes mais jovens, as mulheres e aqueles com bom rendimento acadêmico apresentaram mais atribuições causais internas e controláveis e utilizaram menos es-tratégias autoprejudiciais. As atribuições causais para o sucesso e as estratégias autoprejudiciais foram pre-ditoras da autopercepção de desempenho. Sugere-se a continuidade da investigação destes construtos no ensino superior

Las atribuciones causales, las estrategias autoperjudiciales y la autopercepción del desempeño son constructos psicológicos presentes en la rutina académica y están asociadas con la motivación para aprender. Este estudio investigó el funcionamiento de dichos constructos en una muestra de 532 estudiantes de una universidad privada brasileña del interior de Sao Paulo (Medad=22.98; de=5.12). Los estudiantes respondieron los siguientes instrumentos: Escala de Atribución Causal para el Éxito y el Fracaso Académico para Estudiantes Universitarios; Escala de Estrategias Autoperjudiciales y Cuestionario de Auto-percepción del Desempeño. Se encontró que las atribuciones de causalidades internas y controlables se asocian con un menor uso de estrategias autoperjudiciales. Los estudiantes más jóvenes, las mujeres y los estudiantes con buen rendimiento académico presentaron atribuciones de causalidades internas y controlables y el menor uso de estrategias autoperjudiciales. Las atribuciones causales para el éxito y las estrategias autoperjudiciales fueron predictoras de la autopercepción del rendimiento. Se sugiere la continuidad en la investigación de estos constructos en la educación superior

Intrapersonal causal attributions, self-handicapping strategies, and self-perceived performance are psycho-logical constructs present in the academic routine asso-ciated with motivation to learn. This study investigated the functioning of these constructs in a sample of 532 Brazilian students from a private university in São Paulo State (Mage= 22.98; sd=5.12). The students answered the following instruments: the Causal Attribution Sca-le for Sucess and Academic Failure for Undergraduate Students, the Self-Handicapping Strategies Scale, and the Self-perceived Performance Questionnaire. Attri-butions of internal and controllable causes were found to be associated with less use of self-handicapping strategies. Younger students, women, and students with a high academic performance presented attributions of internal and controllable causes and less use of self-handicapping strategies. Causal attributions for success and self-handicapping strategies were predic-tors of self-perceived performance. We suggest further investigation of these constructs in higher education

Levelling playing field: synchronization and rapid facial mimicry in dog-horse play.

Social play is a window on cognitive and communicative abilities of species. Inter-specific play, in particular, is a fertile venue to explore the capacity to correctly perceive and interpret signals emitted by partners. Up to now, most studies have focussed on dog-human play due to the important implications such studies have in understanding the peculiar relationship we establish with our pets. Here, we focussed on social play between dogs and horses. By using a set of specific keywords (dog, horse, play, friend) we selected 20 videos of dog-horse social play (with each session lasting >30 s) from the open video-sharing website YouTube. We described the behavioural patterns composing each session by defining analogous and species-specific patterns shown by dogs and horses. The rates of self-handicapping and variability in playful actions did not differ between the two interacting subjects thus suggesting well-balanced playful tactics. The Relaxed Open Mouth (ROM, a widespread playful facial expression in mammals) was also similarly performed by dogs and horses. The Rapid Facial Mimicry (RFM) is an automatic, fast response in which individuals mimic others' expressions (less than 1 s) that seems to have a role in mood sharing during social interactions. The dogs and horses under study showed a stronger and rapid mimicry response (less than 1 s) after perceiving ROM than after perceiving an attempt to bite (a play pattern resembling ROM in its motor performance). Taken together, our results suggest that, despite the difference in size, the phylogenetic distance, and differences in the behavioural repertoire, dogs and horses are able to fine-tune their actions thus reducing the probability of misunderstanding and escalating into aggression. One of the future challenges is to explore the role of ontogenetic pathways and familiarity in shaping inter-specific communicative ability of animals that can be at the basis of a universal language of play.

Self-Handicapping Among University Students: The Role of Procrastination, Test Anxiety, Self-Esteem, and Self-Compassion.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the predictor role of procrastination, test anxiety, self-esteem, and self-compassion for the variation in university students' self-handicapping. The sample of the study consisted of 801 undergraduate students (404 females and 397 males). In order to collect data, Self-Handicapping Scale, Tuckman Procrastination Scale, Anxiety Subscale of Academic Emotions Questionnaire, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and Self-Compassion Scale were used. Stepwise regression analysis was conducted, and results showed that all of the predictor variables significantly contributed in explaining self-handicapping. The model explained the 59% of the variance in self-handicapping, whereas semi-partial variance of procrastination, test anxiety, self-esteem, and self-compassion were 17%, 4%, 2%, and 2%, respectively.

Impact of academic psychological capital on academic achievement among university undergraduates: Roles of flow and self-handicapping behavior.

The present research explored the mediating roles of flow and self-handicapping behaviors in the relationship between academic psychological capital (PsyCap) and academic achievement in a purposive sample of university undergraduates (N = 300). Components of academic PsyCap were measured with the Perceived Self-efficacy subscale of the Student Approaches to Learning Scale, the Life Orientation Test - Academics, the Academic Hope Scale, and the Academic Resilience Scale. Flow and self-handicapping behaviors were measured with the Flow Short Scale and the Self-handicapping Scale Revised, respectively. Students' cumulative grade point averages (CGPAs) in the previous semester were taken as an index of their academic achievement. The measurement model of the study revealed a good fit to the data and the structural model indicated the positive direct effects of academic PsyCap and flow and the negative effect of self-handicapping behaviors on academic achievement. Both flow and self-handicapping behaviors demonstrated a parallel mediation between academic PsyCap and CGPA such that academic PsyCap decreased self-handicapping behaviors, which in turn resulted in improved CGPA; on the other hand, academic PsyCap enhanced the flow experience, which led to improved academic achievement. Implications of the study and recommendations for future research are reflected upon.

Associations between Profiles of Self-Esteem and Achievement Goals and the Protection of Self-Worth in University Students.

The high demands of academia and the fear of failure lead some university students to prioritize defending their personal worth through the use of complex strategies such as self-handicapping or defensive pessimism. Adopting a person-centered approach, this study established two objectives: First, to analyze the conformation of different motivational profiles based on the combination of self-esteem and achievement goals (learning, performance approach, and performance avoidance); and second, to determine if the identified profiles differ from one another in the use of self-handicapping and defensive pessimism. A total of 1028 university students participated in the research. Four motivational profiles were obtained: (a) High self-esteem, low learning goals, high performance approach goals, and high performance avoidance goals; (b) high self-esteem, high learning goals, low performance approach goals, and low performance avoidance goals; (c) low self-esteem, low learning goals, high performance approach goals, and high performance avoidance goals; and (d) low self-esteem, high learning goals, high performance approach goals, and medium performance avoidance goals. Profiles (c) and (d) were significantly related to self-handicapping and defensive pessimism, respectively. These results suggest that students with low self-esteem are more vulnerable to self-protection strategies. Additionally, under self-handicapping and defensive pessimism, the achievement goals are slightly different.

Effects of Ability and Effort Praise on Children's Failure Attribution, Self-Handicapping, and Performance.

Previous research has suggested that children praised for ability are more likely to attribute their failure to low ability compared to those who are praised for effort. At the same time, self-worth theory suggests that when an individual's self-worth is threatened, they are likely to use a self-serving attributional strategy and self-handicapping. From the perspective of self-worth theory, the present study investigated how ability and effort praise influenced children's failure attribution, self-handicapping, and their subsequent performance compared to simple informational feedback. Fifth graders (N = 103, average age = 11.2 years, SD = 0.71) were randomly assigned to three praise conditions (ability, effort, or no praise). The results revealed that children praised for ability were more likely to attribute their subsequent failure to non-ability factors and indicate more claimed and behavioral self-handicapping than children who were praised for effort or not praised at all. As behavioral self-handicapping created actual obstacles to progress, children praised for ability made significantly less improvement in their performance than those in the other two groups. In addition, the findings showed that children praised for effort also adopted the claimed self-handicapping and defensive attributional strategies compared to those in the no-praise conditions. These results indicate that parents and teachers should not haphazardly administer praise. Implications for parents, teachers, and future research directions, including the replication of this study in diverse cultural settings, conditions of effort praise, and effects of other types of praise, are discussed.

Self-Esteem, Achievement Goals, and Self-Handicapping in College Physical Education.

This study aims to investigate the relationships among self-esteem, achievement goals, and self-handicapping and the potential mediating role of achievement goals in the relationship between self-esteem and self-handicapping in college physical education. The participants were 320 Chinese college students. Three validated scales were employed to assess participants' self-esteem, achievement goals, and self-handicapping in college physical education. Results showed that self-esteem had a negative effect on self-handicapping. Self-esteem had a positive effect on mastery goals, but had a negative effect on performance-avoidance goals. Mastery goals had a negative effect and performance-avoidance goals had a positive effect on self-handicapping. Moreover, mastery goals and performance-avoidance goals partially mediated the relationship between self-esteem and self-handicapping, and self-esteem had both direct and indirect effects on self-handicapping in college physical education. The findings indicate that improving individual's self-esteem and promoting mastery goals while reducing performance-avoidance goals may be relevant strategies to reduce self-handicapping in college physical education.