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Self-handicapping is defined as "any action or choice of performance setting that enhances the opportunities to externalize failure and to internalize success. " It was first theorized by Edward E. Jones and Steven Berglas. Edward Ellsworth Jones (1927–1993 also known as "Ned" Jones was an influential social psychologist who worked at Duke University for most of his career

According to research, people will seek out obstacles to their own success that minimizes their own performance as a cause for failure. In one study, subjects were given positive feedback on problem-solving tests, regardless of the subject's actual performance. Half the subjects had been given fairly easy problems, while the others were given difficult problems. Subjects were then given the choice between a "performance-enhancing drug" and one which would inhibit it. Those subjects who received the difficult problems were more likely to choose the impairing drug, and subjects who faced easy problems were more likely to choose the enhancing drug. It is argued that the subjects presented with hard problems, believing that their success had been due to chance, chose the impairing drug because they were looking for an external attribution (what might be called an "excuse") for expected poor performance in the future, as opposed to an internal attribution.

Self-handicapping may be the cause of paradoxically limiting one's own ability to succeed and deliberately impairing oneself purely to avoid risk, maintain control and protect the ego and self-esteem. A paradox is a true statement or group of statements that leads to a Contradiction or a situation which defies intuition; or inversely Risk aversion is a concept in Economics, Finance, and Psychology related to the behaviour of consumers and investors under uncertainty Id, ego, and super-ego are the three parts of the " Psychic apparatus " defined in Sigmund Freud 's structural model of In Psychology, self-esteem reflects a Person 's overall evaluation or appraisal of her or his own worth

When awareness of failure was induced, experimental subjects have unduly:

Self-handicapping is more likely to occur when the task is "ego-involving" and failure is anticipated. Some studies suggest that women may be less disposed to and less tolerant of self-handicapping than men (Hirt, McCrea, & Boris, 2003).

Thomas Gilovich makes a distinction between "real" self-handicapping, where people actually obstruct their own success, and "feigned" self-handicapping where they merely draw attention to potential obstacles. Thomas D Gilovich (born 1954 is a professor of Psychology at Cornell University who has researched Decision making and Behavioral economics People may self-handicap to manage the impressions of others, or of themselves (though studies have been unable to test the latter). In Sociology and Social psychology, impression management is the process through which people try to control the impressions other people form of them

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The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (often referred to as JPSP) is a monthly psychology journal of the American Psychological Association. A self-serving bias occurs when people attribute their successes to internal or personal factors but attribute their failures to situational factors beyond their control In Psychology, an attributional bias is a Cognitive bias that affects the way we determine who or what was responsible for an event or action ( attribution Self-perception theory is an account of attitude change developed by Psychologist Daryl Bem.
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