Do Athletes Claim Handicaps in Low Ego-Threatening Conditions? Re-Examining the Effect of Ego-Threat on Claimed Self-Handicapping

Lucie Finez (1) , Sophie Berjot (1) , Elisabeth Rosnet (2) , Christena Cleveland (3)

1 URCA - Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne
2 INSEP - Institut national du sport, de l'expertise et de la performance
3 Westmont College

One hundred and three athletes participated in a motor task that was ostensibly designed to detect their physical ability (high ego-threatening condition) or provide pretesting data for an upcoming study (low ego-threatening condition) and were then given the opportunity to claim handicaps that could impair their performance on this task. Extending previous findings that high self-handicappers (i.e., athletes who scored high on the self-handicapping scale) and low self-esteem athletes engage in claimed self-handicapping in high ego-threatening conditions, the results reveal that they may also engage in this strategy in low ego-threatening conditions. In the low ego-threatening condition, athletes' self-esteem and self-handicapping tendency explained together 33% of the handicaps they claimed.

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société; Sport; Sciences cognitives du sport; Sciences cognitives; Psychologie

Lucie Finez, Sophie Berjot, Elisabeth Rosnet, Christena Cleveland. Do Athletes Claim Handicaps in Low Ego-Threatening Conditions? Re-Examining the Effect of Ego-Threat on Claimed Self-Handicapping. Sport Psychologist, 2011, 25, pp.288-304. ⟨10.1123/tsp.25.3.288⟩. ⟨hal-01813431⟩