Self-esteem, self-conscious emotions, resilience, trait anxiety and their relation to self-handicapping tendencies

Jones and Berglas (1978) define self-handicapping as any action or choice of performance setting that enhances the opportunity to externalize (or excuse) failure and to internalize (reasonably accept credit for) success (p. 406). The present study examined the role of potential precursors in the self-handicapping process. A total of 626 undergraduates from various Hungarian universities completed measures of dispositional self-handicapping, self-esteem, self-conscious emotions, trait anxiety, trait resilience, and social desirability. Self-handicapping was related positively to trait anxiety, shame-proneness, externalization, and detachment, and negatively to self-esteem, resilience, and social desirability. These results provide additional evidence in support of previous studies about the deleterious effects and antecedents of self-handicapping. Since these results are correlational in nature, future investigations need to clarify the contribution (in a sense of causality) of each variable in the self-handicapping process