Perception of self-handicapping behavior in the workplace: Not that great

Previous studies that have examined the effectiveness of self-handicapping behavior as an impression management strategy have shown different results between students and workers. In order to generalize the results among workers, the present study examined the perception of self-handicapping behavior in the workplace by replicating and extending Park and Brown’s study (Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 44(2), 124–132, 2014) to workers in South Korea. To this end, 252 workers evaluated a target whose behavior (self-handicapping vs. control) and outcome (success vs. failure) were manipulated. Participants assessed the target in terms of attributions (to ability, effort, external factors, and luck) and their willingness to socialize and collaborate with the target. Results revealed that workers generally evaluated self-handicapping targets more negatively than control targets.