title: "I know you self-handicapped last exam": gender differences in reactions to self-handicapping.
abstract: Past research has shown that self-handicapping involves the trade-off of ability-related attributional benefits for interpersonal costs. Study 1 examined whether perceiver or target sex moderates impressions of self-handicapping targets. Although target sex was not an important factor, female perceivers were consistently more critical of behavioral self-handicappers. Two additional studies replicated this gender difference with variations of the handicap. Study 3 examined the motives inferred by perceivers and found that women not only view self-handicappers as more unmotivated but also report greater suspicion of self-handicapping motives; furthermore, these differences in perceived motives mediated sex differences in reactions to self-handicappers. Implications for the effectiveness of self-handicapping as an impression management strategy are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Indiana University-Bloomington, 47405, USA. ehirt@indiana.edu
authors.forename: Edward R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Hirt
authors.forename: Sean M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: McCrea
authors.forename: Hillary I
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Boris
mesh_terms: D001076:Aptitude; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D011897:Random Allocation; D012649:Self Concept; D012737:Sex Factors