The self-disabled implies behaviors that break your chances of success. Why would people do things that could make them more likely to fail? We all want to feel good about ourselves, but researchers have found that we sometimes go so far as to jeopardize our chances of success in order to avoid taking responsibility for our failures.
When faced with a major exam, for example, students can stay out all night to avoid studying. Then, when they succeed badly, they can reproach their friends for leaving their mediocre note to prevent them from coming back late, instead of their own lack of intelligence.
In simple terms, self-handicap allows people to find an outside source to blame for possible failures. While this may be an effective strategy for protecting self-esteem, it can naturally have a significant negative impact on success.
Let's take a closer look at why disability exists and the potential consequences of this behavior.
Why do people self-handicap?
Psychologists have found that we all have a great need to attribute our failures to external forces while attributing to us the merit of our successes. This behavior protects our self-esteem, but it can also lead us to do things that make us less likely to succeed.
This trend is known as self-handicap, defined as an action or self-sabotaging choice that prevents people from assuming personal responsibility for results. Essentially, people create barriers so that any potential failures can be attributed to these outside forces. Failures can be embarrassing when people realize that their lack of skill or preparation has led to the result. By taking steps that undermine success, people avoid dealing with the truth and accept their own weaknesses.
There are many forms of self-handicap. Sometimes this behavior can be quite harmless, but in some cases it can be much more serious. In some cases, it can even lead to people engaging in potentially dangerous behavior.
For example, students may postpone their homework or postpone their studies until the very last minute. Athletes can skip training or stay up late at night before a big game. In some cases, people may engage in more dangerous forms of self-handicap, such as drug and alcohol abuse.
The researchers suggested that self-handicap could be linked to what is called the selfish bias, in which people claim a personal credit for success but blame external forces for their failures.
Imagine, for example, that you are preparing to participate in your very first marathon. You have followed a training program and eat healthy, but as race day approaches, you doubt your ability to successfully reach the finish line.
In the weeks and days leading up to the big race, you find yourself skipping your workouts and consuming plenty of food. When the day finally arrives to participate in the marathon, you feel tired and out of shape. Because of these self-handicapping behaviors, you may allow your disability to end the race to be distorted or swollen rather than your possible lack of skill.
Self-handicap research
Researchers Stephen Berglas and Edward Jones described the phenomenon for the first time in a 1978 study, which randomly assigned students to complete anagrams, some of which could be solved and some not.
Afterwards, all the students learned that they had been successful. This return was clearly confusing and confusing for participants who had been given insoluble anagrams. They were told that they had worked well but that they did not know how or why they did it.
"These are the people who are said to be brilliant without knowing how this inference is derived," Dr. Berglas told the New York Times in 2009.
The volunteers were then asked if they wanted to take a performance-enhancing or performance-inhibiting drug before another test. Among the participants, no less than 70% of those who received the insoluble anagram chose to take the performance-inhibiting drug, compared to only 13% of those who received the soluble anagram.
Why would some choose the drug designed to alter their performance on a test? These results suggest that when people trust their abilities to perform a task, they would rather receive something that would help them perform better. Those who are unsure of their abilities, however, are more likely to want the drug that will hinder their performance, thus giving them an external source to blame for their possible failures.
The effects
The purpose of all this self-sabotage is to protect the ego and self-esteem, and the experts found that it really worked. People with high self-esteem have been shown to be more engaged in disability. For many people, these behaviors occur almost automatically. We find excuses for failure even before trying, but we often do it unconsciously.
Although self-handicap can make a big difference in protecting our self-esteem, it can also have serious side effects. If you place obstacles in the way of success, there is no chance that you give yourself every chance that you should to achieve your goals. And by reducing your chances, you are reducing your expectations for yourself now and in the future.
Researcher Sean McCrea also discovered that self-handicap can lead to a loss of motivation and an incentive for future success. In a series of experiments, he manipulated the scores of participants in IQ (intelligence quotient) tests. Some participants had the choice of preparing to take the test or join a "no practice" group. Those who received bad scores were more likely to blame their lack of practice, but McCrae also found in later experiments that those who had an excuse for low scores (distractions, lack of preparation, etc.) were less motivated to prepare. For a future test only those who have no external source to blame.
"The disability allowed them to say," All things considered, I actually did very well, "McCrea told Benedict Carey while writing for the New York Times," and we're not trying to get better. "
More negative consequences of personal disability:
Self-disabled students report spending less time each week studying.
Self-disabled people also tend to have lower ratings overall.
They are also more likely to consume alcohol before embarking on a task.
It also hurts social relations. The self-disabled always seem to have an excuse, so they are often considered "whiners". The researchers found that self-handicapping peers are rated more negatively.
The self-disabled can protect the ego, but that entails significant costs. Barriers to success can provide excuses for failures, but it also makes us more likely to fail. Do you feel good now or do you give everything and risk failure? Research suggests that, if your self-esteem may take a temporary hit, giving up self-disabling behaviors might be better for future success.
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