dc.description.abstract | Academic self-handicaping (ASH) referes to usage of self-handicapping strategies in
order to preserve self-esteem by externalizing the causes that could lead to potential
failure in academic context. The aim of this study was to validate the SHAALA-22
which intends to measure ASH. The items were generated to reflect the most frequently
disscussed ASH strategies found in the literature. Convergent validity was tested with
instruments HEXACO-60 (specifically, with Conscientiousness), Self-Liking and
Self-Competence Scale (SLCS, 16 items) and Self-Handicap Assessment Questionnare (SH, 34 items) which assesses four types of self-handicapping (External handicaps in interpersonal relationships (EIR), Internal handicaps in interpersonal relationships (IIR), Internal handicaps in achievement situations (IAS), External handicaps in
achievement situations (EAS)). Divergent validity was tested by correlation analysis
with the traits of Honesty, Emotionality, Agreeableness, Extraversion, and Openness.
Regarding diagnostic validity, we expected no differences between males and females,
but expected that pupils would have higher scores than students on SHAALA-22.
Subjects were recruited using the snowball method. Total of 249 participants (69.9 %
female), aged 15-51 years (M = 19.35, SD = 3.31), completed the questionnaires. The
method conducted for exploratory factor analysis was Principal components analysis
by the means of which we identified one component that accounts for 27.85 % of
total variance. Factor analysis indicated that it’s justified to use the total score on the
instrument (α = .871, KMO = .933, H2 = .626). The following significant correlations were obtained between the summary score of SHAALA-22 and the subscales of
the used instruments: with Conscientiousness (r = -.532, p < .01), with Honesty (r =
-.234, p < .01), with Extraversion (r = -.241, p < .01), with Agreeableness (r = -.141,
p < .05), with Self-Liking (r = -.342, p < .01), with Self-Competence (r = -.432, p <
.01), with EIR (r = .267, p < .01), with IIR (r = .273, p < .01), with IAS (r = .64, p <
.01), with EAS (r = .409, p < .01). No significant differences in ASH were observed
between males and females, nor between students and pupils. The obtained results
indicate good psychometric characteristics of the test and confirm its convergent and
discriminant validity, opening new theoretical and practical questions related to this
construct | sr |