International Journal of Behavioral Sciences

International Journal of Behavioral Sciences

An investigation on the relationship between perfectionism beliefs, self-efficacy, and test anxiety with self-handicapping behaviors

Authors
Mohammadreza Firoozi 1
Ghader Zadebagheri 2
Ali Kazemi 3
Maryam Karami 4
1 Dept. of Psychology, College of Humanities, Yasouj University
2 Dept. of Psychiatry, College of Medical Sciences, Yasouj University of Medical Sciences, Yasouj, Iran
3 Ph. D. in TEFL, Dept. of English, College of Humanities, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran.
4 M. A. student, Yasouj University
Abstract
Introduction: The present study sought to determine the relationship between perfectionism (positive or negative), self-efficacy, and test anxiety with self-handicapping behaviors.Method: The research method was a descriptive and correlational study. For this study, 428 students were chosen from different high schools in Shiraz as the participants, using random cluster sampling. The Perfectionism Questionnaire (developed by Terry-short), the scales of test anxiety and self-efficacy from Motivational Strategies Questionnaire (developed by Pintrich and De Groot) and the Self-handicapping Questionnaire (developed by Jones and Rhodewalt) were administered to them. In order to analyze data, the correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis were used.Results: There was a positive correlation between test-anxiety, negative perfectionism and self-handicapping. However, the correlation between self- self-efficacy, positive perfectionism and self-handicapping was found to be negative but significant. Regression analysis showed that 29% of the variance of self-handicap could be accounted with the four predictor variables.Conclusion: The relationship between self-handicapping and such characteristics as test anxiety, self-efficacy, and perfectionism is complicated. Anxious people, due to experiencing negative emotions or fear of negative evaluation, people with low self-efficacy, due to lack of self-belief and perfectionists, due to fear of failure are usually more prone to self-handicapping. Keywords: Self-handicapping Behaviors, Perfectionism Beliefs, Self-efficacy, Test Anxiety
Keywords
Keywords: Self-handicapping Behaviors
Perfectionism Beliefs
Self-efficacy
Test Anxiety
  1. References
  2. Zuckerman M, Tsai FF. Costs of Self‐Handicapping. Journal of Personality. 2005;73(2):411-42.
  3. Baumeister RF, Hamilton JC, Tice DM. Public versus private expectancy of success: Confidence booster or performance pressure? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1985;48(6):1447.
  4. Warner S, Moore S. Excuses, excuses: Self-handicapping in an Australian adolescent sample. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 2004;33(4):271-81.
  5. Kearns H, Forbes A, Gardiner M, Marshall K. When a High Distinction Isn't Good Enough: A Review of Perfectionism and Self-Handicapping. Australian Educational Researcher. 2008;35(3):21-36.
  6. Zuckerman M, Kieffer SC, Knee CR. Consequences of self-handicapping: Effects on coping, academic performance, and adjustment. Journal of personality and social psychology. 1998;74(6):1619.
  7. Darley JME, Cooper JE. Attribution and social interaction: The legacy of Edward E. Jones: American Psychological Association; 1998.
  8. Brown CM, Kimble CE. Personal, interpersonal, and situational influences on behavioral self-handicapping. The Journal of social psychology. 2009;149(6):609-26.
  9. Berglas S, Jones EE. Drug choice as a self-handicapping strategy in response to noncontingent success. Journal of personality and social psychology. 1978;36(4):405.
  10. Higgins RL, Berglas S. The maintenance and treatment of self-handicapping. Self-Handicapping: Springer; 1990. p. 187-238.
  11. Feick DL, Rhodewalt F. The double-edged sword of self-handicapping: Discounting, augmentation, and the protection and enhancement of self-esteem. Motivation and Emotion. 1997;21(2):147-63.
  12. Covington MV. Goal theory, motivation, and school achievement: An integrative review. Annual review of psychology. 2000;51(1):171-200.
  13. Maatta S, STATTIN H, Nurmi J-E. Achievement strategies at school: types and correlates. Journal of adolescence. 2002;25(1):31-46.
  14. Hewitt PL, Flett GL. Perfectionism in the self and social contexts: conceptualization, assessment, and association with psychopathology. Journal of personality and social psychology. 1991;60(3):456.
  15. Frost RO, Marten P, Lahart C, Rosenblate R. The dimensions of perfectionism. Cognitive therapy and research. 1990;14(5):449-68.
  16. Burns DD. The perfectionist’s script for self-defeat. Psychology today. 1980;14(6):34-52.
  17. Terry-Short LA, Owens RG, Slade P, Dewey M. Positive and negative perfectionism. Personality and individual differences. 1995;18(5):663-8.
  18. Hamachek DE. Psychodynamics of normal and neurotic perfectionism. Psychology: A Journal of Human Behavior. 1978.
  19. Suddarth BH, Slaney RB. An investigation of the dimensions of perfectionism in college students. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and development. 2001;34(3):157.
  20. Sherry S, Flett G, Hewitt P. Perfectionism and self-handicapping. Canadian Psychology. 2001;2:78.
  21. Ferrari JR, Thompson T. Impostor fears: Links with self-presentational concerns and self-handicapping behaviours. Personality and Individual Differences. 2006;40(2):341-52.
  22. Pulford BD, Johnson A, Awaida M. A cross-cultural study of predictors of self-handicapping in university students. Personality and Individual Differences. 2005;39(4):727-37.
  23. Bandura A. Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory: Prentice-Hall, Inc; 1986.
  24. Bandura A. Self-efficacy: The exercise of control: Macmillan; 1997.
  25. Maddux JE. The power of believing you can. Handbook of positive psychology. 2002:277-87.
  26. Coudevylle GR, Ginis KAM, Famose J-P. Determinants of self-handicapping strategies in sport and their effects on athletic performance. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal. 2008;36(3):391-8.
  27. Martin K, Brawley L. Self-Esteem, self-efficacy, and self-handicapping: The relationship between stable and situational forms of self-doubt and self-handicapping in physical achievement settings. Self and Identity. 2002;1:337-51.
  28. Barzegar K, Khezri H. Predicting Academic Cheating Among the Fifth Grade Students: The Role of Self-Efficacy and Academic Self-Handicapping. Journal of Life Science and Biomedicine. 2012;2(1):1-6.
  29. Richardson ED. Self-efficacy and Self-handicapping: A Cross-cultural Comparison Between Adolescents in the Bahamas and the United States: Roosevelt University; 2007.
  30. Gadbois SA, Sturgeon RD. Academic self‐handicapping: Relationships with learning specific and general self‐perceptions and academic performance over time. British Journal of Educational Psychology. 2011;81(2):207-22.
  31. Haycock LA, McCarthy P, Skay CL. Procrastination in college students: The role of self‐efficacy and anxiety. Journal of counseling & development. 1998;76(3):317-24.
  32. Wolters CA. Understanding procrastination from a self-regulated learning perspective. Journal of Educational Psychology. 2003;95(1):179.
  33. Mousavi V, Haghshenas H, Alishahi MJ. Najmi SB, Test anxiety and demographic factors associated with it among High school students in Shiraz. Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 2008;6(1): 16-24. [Persian].
  34. Spielberger C, Gonzalez H, Taylor C, Algaze B, Anton W. Examination stress and test anxiety. InC. D. Spielberger & IG Sarason (Eds.), Stress and anxiety (Vol. 5, pp. 167-191). New York: Wiley; 1978.
  35. Smith TW, Snyder C, Handelsman MM. On the self-serving function of an academic wooden leg: test anxiety as a self-handicapping strategy. Journal of personality and social psychology. 1982;42(2):314.
  36. Thomas CR, Gadbois SA. Academic self‐handicapping: The role of self‐concept clarity and students' learning strategies. British Journal of Educational Psychology. 2007;77(1):101-19.
  37. Leary M. Kow al ski RM. So cial anxi ety. New York: The Guil ford Press; 1995.
  38. Suliman WA, Halabi J. Critical thinking, self-esteem, and state anxiety of nursing students. Nurse Education Today. 2007;27(2):162-8.
  39. Thompson T, Richardson A. Self‐handicapping status, claimed self‐handicaps and reduced practice effort following success and failure feedback. British Journal of Educational Psychology. 2001;71(1):151-70.
  40. FERRAND C, CHAMPELY S, BRUNEL PC. RELATIONS BETWEEN FEMALE STUDENTS’PERSONALITY TRAITS AND REPORTED HANDICAPS TO RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS PERFORMANCE 1. Psychological reports. 2005;96(2):361-73.
  41. Martens R, Vealey RS, Burton D. Competitive anxiety in sport: Human kinetics; 1990.
  42. Prapavessis H, Grove JR. Personality variables as antecedents of precompetitive mood state temporal patterning. International Journal of Sport Psychology. 1994.
  43. Besharat MA. Relationship of positive and negative perfectionism and defense mechanisms. Psychological Research. 2005;8(1,2):15. [Persian].
  44. Rice KG, Slaney RB. Clusters of perfectionists: Two studies of emotional adjustment and academic achievement. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development. 2002;35(1):35.
  45. Jones EE, Rhodewalt F. The self-handicapping scale. UK: Princeton University; 1982.
  46. Heidari M, Dehghani M, Khodapanahi M. The Impact of Perceived Parenting Style and Gender on Self-Handicapping. J Fam Res. 2009. 5(2):12. [Persian]
  47. Pintrich PR, De Groot EV. Motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance. Journal of educational psychology. 1990;82(1):33.
  48. Kareshki H, Kharrazi SA, Ejei J, Tabatabaee SM. Relationship between environmental perceptions of family, motivational beliefs and self-regulational: Testing a causal model. Journal of Psychology. 2009;13:15. [[Persian]
  49. Solomon LJ, Rothblum ED. Academic procrastination: Frequency and cognitive-behavioral correlates. Journal of counseling psychology. 1984;31(4):503.
  50. McCown W, Johnson J. Differential arousal gradients in chronic procrastination. American Psychological Society, Alexandria, VA. 1989.
  51. Stewart MA, De George-Walker L. Self-handicapping, perfectionism, locus of control and self-efficacy: A path model. Personality and Individual Differences. 2014;66:160-4.
  52. Niknam M, Hosseinian S, Zazdi S. Relationship between perfectionism beliefs and self-handicapping behaviors in university students. Journal of Behavioral Sciences. 2010;4(2):103-8. [Persian].
  53. Akin A, Abaci R, Akin Ü. Self-handicapping: A Conceptual Analysis. International Online Journal of Educational Sciences. 2011;3(3).
International Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Volume 10, Issue 2 - Serial Number 2
54
Summer 2016
Pages 45-49