Self-Handicapping is not something which sounds like a good idea. For me, it brings to mind images of the movie "The Ringer" where the main character pretends to be mentally retarded in order to compete in the Special Olympics. In actuality, the term refers to a way in which people put obstacles in their way before a task (Berglas, S., & Jones, E.E., 1978). This is done so that if the outcome is not favorable, the individual can make an external attribution to his or her failure. On the other hand, if the outcome is favorable the individual can say that they succeeded in spite of the obstacle. This seems convenient, but can go horribly wrong in a number of ways. First, and hopefully most obviously, the self imposed handicap can make you fail at a task which you otherwise wouldn't have failed at. Sure you have a handy excuse, but what good is that really? In addition to this, people see through self handicapping easily, and they don't appreciate it.

The best example of self handicapping which i can think of from my life is my experience with the SAT/ACT. I'll just say this; i studied for neither (i thought i was really hot shit intellectually in high school, no lie). I ended up making really good scores despite this, and this only furthered my boasting. However, if i hadn't done well, i could have just chalked that up to the fact that i didn't bother studying for the test. Win/win, right?

Berglas, S., & Jones, E.E. (1978). Drug choice as a self-handicapping strategy in response to noncontingent success. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 405-417