Reducing effort to protect perceived ability: "They'd do it but I wouldn't."

Researchers have proposed that when students expect a failure that will indicate their incompetence, they intentionally reduce effort so that failure can be attributed to low effort, rather than low ability. Impaired performance has been found when students anticipate feedback that would indicate incompetence, but there is not clear evidence that the impairment results from a calculated reduction in effort. It was hypothesized that this self-protective mechanism makes better sense to observers than to people in a position to use it. In three experiments, college students (Ns?=?123, 70, 60) were asked how they or a hypothetical student would behave in a situation where they anticipated demonstrating low ability. They rejected the notion that they might not work hard but expected others to reduce effort. Thus, if students reduce effort when their perceived ability is threatened, it may not reflect an intentional strategy designed to maintain perceived ability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)