Self-handicapping and pain catastrophizing

Uysal A., LU Q.

PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES, vol.49, no.5, pp.502-505, 2010 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 49 Issue: 5
  • Publication Date: 2010
  • Doi Number: 10.1016/j.paid.2010.05.012
  • Journal Name: PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.502-505
  • Keywords: Self-handicapping, Pain catastrophizing, Pain, INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES, COPING STRATEGIES, SCALE, QUESTIONNAIRE, ATTRIBUTIONS, DISTINCTION
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: No

Abstract

The present study investigated whether dispositional self-handicapping (tendency to create or claim obstacles to performance in order to protect the self from negative attributions) predicts pain catastrophizing and self-reported pain. Based on the idea that exaggerated claims of pain provides a potential and an easy way to self-handicap, it was hypothesized that trait self-handicapping would be related to pain catastrophizing, which in turn, would be associated with higher levels of self-reported pain. A sample of undergraduate students (N = 251) completed measures of self-handicapping, pain catastrophizing, and self-reported pain. It was found that self-handicapping was moderately associated with pain catastrophizing, accounting for 20% of the variance in pain catastrophizing. Furthermore, mediation analyses suggested that pain catastrophizing fully mediated the association between self-handicapping and pain. Published by Elsevier Ltd.