Training Package for Fostering Stable Self-Esteem and Reducing Fear of Negative Evaluation and Testing its Effectiveness on Self –Handicapping

Self-handicapping is a defense strategy in which a person, prior to any performance, creates some obstacles by which he manipulates his attributions after the performance. This variable is regarded as one impediment to educational efficiency. This study aims to design a training package to foster stable self-esteem and reduce the fear of negative evaluation to influence teenagers’ self-handicapping. To this end, based on an empirical research study and after the confirmation of the validity of the designed training package by experts (p<0.001), one high school was selected through convenience sampling method from among Junior high schools. The population of eighth grade high schoolers (150) answered to Jones Self-Handicapping Scale (1982), Brief Form of the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (FNES-B) and Instability of Self-Esteem Scale (ISES). From among the foregoing population, a group of 60 high schoolers with an average age of 14 years old who had obtained the highest self-handicapping scores were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups and received the training package for 8 one-hour sessions. Then, a post-test and a follow-up test were administered after one subsequent month. Data was analyzed using the regression analyze, independent-t method and mixed analysis of variance. The study results suggested the effectiveness of the training package in promoting the stable self-esteem and reducing the fear of negative evaluation and consequently reducing self-handicapping scores of the subjects (p<0.001,partial η²= 0/315). This study proposes that, owing to the criticality of adolescence, training packages focusing on fostering stable self-esteem and decreasing fear of negative evaluation may be highly effectual in alleviating adolescents’ self-handicapping and operate as a factor leading to more development and growth for them.