Psychometric examination of self-handicapping scale (SHS)

Aim and Self-handicapping has been defined as a strategic manipulation of a situation in a way that an individual can claim that obstacles to his/her performance account for a possible failure. Research has shown that some people behave in a way to create impediments to successful achievement, especially when this is important to them. To the best knowledge of authors only one validated scale is developed for measurement of this behavior and that its psychometric properties have not been examined in Iran. As such, the aim of this study is to introduce the scale and evaluate its psychometric properties.Method and Materials: This research is a descriptive-correlational study with a cluster random sample of 650 undergraduate students from Shahid Beheshti University. Original SH scale (25 items) and Rosenberg Self-esteem Inventory (10 items) were administered. Collected data were analyzed using Pearson correlation, Chronbach Alpha, and exploratory factor analysis. Exploratory factor analysis supported a 3-factor (23 items from 25 original items) solution named as "negative mood" (NM), "effort" (E), and "excuse making" (EM). Base on the theory, sum score of "negative mood" & recoded "effort" composes behavioral self-handicapping, and sum score of "negative mood" and "excuse making" reflexes claimed self-handicapping. Chronbach’s Alpha for the factors ranged from 0.60 to 0.72 and was 0.77 for the total scoreale. Test retest reliability was 0.84, supporting the reliability of the scale. Correlation between self-handicapping & self-esteem inventory was found to be -0.54 which provides further support for the validity of the scale. A 23-item self-handicapping scale was psychometrically evaluated in a student population. This version of the scale called "SHS-IR", shows satisfactory psychometric properties. Further research is needed to examine its application in different populations.