| Abstract: | Tested the hypothesis that hypochondriacal individuals commonly use reports of physical illness and symptoms as a strategy to control attributions made about their performances in evaluative settings (i.e., self-handicapping strategies). It was predicted that hypochondriacal Ss would report more recent physical illness and complaints and more current physical symptoms in an evaluative setting in which poor health could serve as an alternative explanation for poor performance than would either Ss in an evaluative setting in which poor health was precluded as an excuse or Ss in a nonevaluative setting. 109 undergraduates selected on the basis of their high or low score on the Hypochondriasis scale of the MMPI were administered a short form of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and then received either the evaluative or nonevaluative instructions as a rationale for the experiment. It was found that as predicted, results support the self-protective pattern of complaints in hypochondriacal Ss but not in nonhypochondriacal Ss. The self-protective role of hypochondriacal behavior is discussed in relation to theory and research on the nature and treatment of hypochondriasis. (57 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
