Determinants of self-handicapping strategies in sport and their effects on athletic performance

The purpose of this study was to examine self-efficacy and self-esteem as predictors of claimed and behavioral self-handicapping, and to compare the relationship between behavioral and claimed self-handicaps and athletic performance. A total of 31 basketball players participated in the study. Claimed self-handicaps were significantly negatively correlated with self-esteem whereas behavioral self-handicapping was significantly negatively correlated with self-efficacy. Performance was negatively correlated with behavioral self-handicapping, but was not correlated with claimed self-handicapping. These findings reinforce the conceptual distinction between claimed and behavioral self-handicaps by demonstrating that the two strategies are indeed related to different factors and that they have different consequences for performance.