When practice doesn’t make perfect: Effort expenditure as an active behavioral self-handicapping strategy

Lack of effort is a common index of self-handicapping. Yet, withholding effort is subject to a number of other interpretations. In two studies, we tested whether men would engage in effortful self-handicapping (practice more) and how this compares to effort withdrawal. When men believed that practice could be harmful to future performance, those high in trait self-handicapping were expected to behaviorally self-handicap by exerting effort. This prediction was confirmed in both a novel non-contingent-success setting (Study 1) and a more realistic contingent-success setting (Study 2). We suggest that to achieve a strong and clear indication of behavioral self-handicapping, researchers consider effort expenditure, as it is less susceptible to alternative explanations than effort withdrawal. Implications for refinements to self-handicapping theory are discussed.