Background/Purpose: Self-handicapping can be defined as a self-protective or self-promotional strategy that involves using certain behaviors, choosing certain settings or making claims to set oneself up to “externalize or excuse failure and internalize or accept credit for success” (Berglas & Jones, 1978, p. 406). Despite considerable research in sport settings, self-handicapping has yet to be studied in the realm of dance, where athletes perform as artists without a competitive outcome. The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of self-handicapping in professional performance-only dance teams.
Method: One intact dance team (N=10) for a major professional sport in a large Southwestern city responded to self-report surveys that measured definitions of success and failure, dispositional self-handicapping, mechanisms for situational self-handicapping and demographics. The team also participated in an in-depth semi-structured focus group discussion about the nature of self-handicapping and perceptions of successful and unsuccessful dance performances.
Analysis/Results: Descriptive statistics and frequency counts revealed that this group of dancers indicated low dispositional self-handicapping. Poor health (e.g., injury, sick) and self-care (drinking night before, staying up late) were common mechanisms of situational self-handicapping rated as detrimental to performance. Two prominent themes emerged from a content analysis of the focus group data; 1) faking injury to avoid practice leading to unsuccessful performances and 2) individuals' self-handicapping impact on team unity.
Conclusions: Findings extend the knowledge base on self-handicapping into the artistic performance arena. Results provide information that will aid in reducing the tendency to self-handicap in non-competitive environments and potential negative psychosocial outcomes among professional dancers.