Psychology of Leaders and Leadership, Vol 26(2), May 2023, 93-114; doi:10.1037/mgr0000139
Self-handicapping is a strategy that provides individuals with justifications for the externalization of failure. Although rarely investigated, external factors are assumed to be influential in the emergence of self-handicapping. Utilizing trait activation theory, this study aims to understand the association of leadership styles with employees’ self-handicapping and how this process is mediated by fear of failure and moderated by socially prescribed perfectionism. Data were collected from 210 individuals aged 20–67. The results indicated that self-handicapping behavior was negatively associated with transformational and positively associated with abusive supervision with the significant mediator role of fear of failure. Socially prescribed perfectionism has also appeared to be a significant moderator only in the relationship between transformational leadership and fear of failure. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)