The Influence Of Motivational Climate On Behavioral Self-handicapping

In this study, 120 college students were studied to examine the influence of motivational climate on behavioral self-handicapping.In experiment 1, a 2×2 between subjects design was adopted and each subject was presented with only one kind of motivational climate by instruction. The results showed that (1) male subjects who were in self-involvement motivational climate handicapped more than their counterparts who were in task-involvement motivational climate; (2) male subjects handicapped more than their female counterparts when they were both confronted with self-involvement motivational climate.In experiment 2, a 2×2×2 between subjects design was adopted and each subject was presented with two kinds of motivational climate by simultaneously presenting two kinds of feedback to them: self-referenced feedback and norm-referenced feedback. The results showed that (1) both male and female subjects showed high levels of self-handicapping when they were in self-up\norm-up condition;(2) male subjects who were in norm-down\self-down condition handicapped more than their counterparts who were in self-up\norm-down condition and who were in norm-up\self-down condition, the results differed from that of their female counterparts under the same condition, female subjects who were in norm-down\self-up condition handicapped more than their counterparts who were in norm-down\self-down condition; (3) male subjects handicapped more than their female counterparts when they were both in norm-down\self-down condition.