SELF-HANDICAPPING AND BURNOUT

Abstract

Self-handicapping is a process containing strategies of externalization in which an individual can excuse failure and internalize success. This study investigated the relationship of self-handicapping with measures of burnout. The Self-handicapping Scale and the Maslach Burnout Inventory were administered to 309 university students. Self-handicapping was positively correlated to emotional exhaustion, lowered personal accomplishment, and depersonalization. A structural equation model fit the data well and accounted for 20% of the variance in emotional exhaustion, 14% in lowered personal accomplishment, and 10% in depersonalization.