Self-handicapping and academic path of undergraduate Business students

Abstract

This study examined the effect of using self-handicapping strategies on the academic path of undergraduate Business students. Previous studies have analyzed the effects of self-handicapping behavior on academic performance, thus not reflecting on a broader scope such as academic path. Therefore, analyzing the effect of self-handicapping on the academic path, based on a construct that represents academic life, makes it possible to highlight its impacts on major elements that, together, comprise the building of the students’ path, such as: university setting, commitment to the course, student skills, involvement in course activities, study conditions, and academic achievement. Self-handicapping is associated with high levels of stress, depression, anxiety, and procrastination. So, assessing the effects of self-handicapping on the education of prospective organizational managers is especially important, as the consequences of continued use of self-handicapping strategies may go beyond the academic setting and affect social and affective issues of these people. Motivated by their views, beliefs, and stereotypes, which lead them to self-handicapping behavior, business leaders and managers can take actions that generate losses and frustrations in situations that require an assertive position in decisions taken in the organizational setting. This prevents the achievement of optimal solutions, which may result in economic bankruptcy and non-compliance with organizational goals and results. In this way, grasping the effect of self-handicapping on the academic path of students in the Business area creates conditions to mitigate it during their education, preventing the results of its continued use from going beyond the university setting and also causing losses in the corporate setting. A survey was carried out with students enrolled in six undergraduate courses in the Business area of a federal public university in southern Brazil. The sample had the participation of 212 undergraduate students and data analysis took place by using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results point out a moderate presence of self-handicapping behavior in research participants and confirm the hypothesis that self-handicapping negatively affects the academic path of undergraduate Business students. This effect tends to be greater among students over 25 years of age and among male students. Even with a moderate presence of self-handicapping behavior among the students under analysis, its effect on the academic path was negative and significant, which suggests that in samples with rather self-handicapping individuals, the academic path tends to be even more impacted.