A Model of Relationships between Personality Traits and Academic Self-Handicapping: The Mediating Role of Achievement Goals

Introduction: Identifying factors affecting academic self-handicapping as a psychological harm and a strategy to justify probable academic failure in the future has undesirable educational consequences. Thus, the purpose of this study was to provide a model to predict academic self-handicapping on the basis of personality traits and achievement goals. Methods: This descriptive-correlational study was performed on 258 students of nursing school in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in 2014. Participants were selected through stratified sampling. The subjects answered to a self-report questionnaire measuring achievement goals, personality traits, and academic self-handicapping. Data were analyzed using path analysis in LISREL software. Results: Findings showed that indirect effects of extroversion, task-orientation, agreeableness and openness to experience on academic self-handicapping were all significant at -0.08, -0.11, and -0.07 respectively (p