An experimental investigation of the determinants and consequences of self-handicapping strategies across motivational climates

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to determine whether the use of claimed and behavioural self-handicaps and their correlates differed across experimentally manipulated motivational climates. Fifty-six competitive basketball players participated in the study. A crossover design was used, such that all participants completed the experimental task (i.e. a test of basketball skill) in both mastery and performance climates. Analyses of variance showed that claimed self-handicaps were used more in the performance than the mastery condition but only for the men. In addition, greater behavioural self-handicapping occurred in the performance than the mastery climate. Contrary to expectation, neither type of self-handicap was related to performance on the basketball task in either climate. These findings reinforce the conceptual distinction between claimed and behavioural self-handicaps and suggest that individual and environmental factors may differentially influence each type of handicap.

Keywords:

• Claims
• behaviours
• performance
• basketball

Acknowledgements

We extend our appreciation to Martyn Standage for his comments on a previous version of this manuscript.