Some people sabotage themselves by setting up an excuse for failure before even trying something.
Link -via Lifehacker
Psychologists have studied this sort of behavior since at least 1978, when Steven Berglas and Edward E. Jones used the phrase “self-handicapping” to describe students in a study who chose to take a drug that they were told would inhibit their performance on an exam (the drug was actually inert).
The urge goes well beyond a mere lowering of expectations, and it has more to do with protecting self-image than with psychological conflicts rooted in early development, in the Freudian sense. Recent research has helped clarify not just who is prone to self-handicapping but also its consequences — and its possible benefits.
Link -via Lifehacker
I picked up a copy for $4.99 in the clearance section at the Indigo book store near me.
What does Freud have to do with anything?
The urge goes well beyond a mere lowering of expectations, and it has more to do with protecting self-image than with psychological conflicts rooted in early development, in the Freudian sense.
I guess tend to mentally block out the word "Freudian" whenever I come across it. I used to roll my eyes whenever that name was mentioned. He was too sure of himself with subjects that had more depth then he explained them to have. I consider his work "Micky Mouse Psychology".
I didn't do - fill up the blank - because I was on Neatorama.