Academic Self-Efficacy and Self-Handicapping in High School Students

The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between academic self-efficacy, academic self-handicapping, and gender. Three hundred and eighty seven students of Tehran public high school in fourth grade (199 females, 188 males) completed the Academic Self-Handicapping Scale (ASHS; Midgley et al., 1996) and the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (ASES; McIlroy & Bunting, 2002). The sample was selected by the cluster random sampling. The data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient, Fisher’s Z test and multivariate analysis of variance. The results indicated that academic self-efficacy was negatively related with academic self-handicapping and gender couldn’t play a moderating role in the relationship between these two variables. The results also indicated that female students reported significantly more academic self-efficacy than males and male students reported significantly more academic self-handicapping than females. The results were discussed within the social cognitive theory and social-specifics affecting the fourth grade high school students in Iran.