Failing Due to Fear of Failure: Learned, Cognitive and Physiological Forces

   
The following is an adaptation of a paper I recently completed –
“Fear of Failure, Panicked with the Prospect Prosperity”.  

       Fear of failure (FoF) has claimed many hours from the overachiever or perfectionist as well otherwise productive individuals through procrastination due to fear of the end product being deficient in some manner or due to the fear of what comes after the current endeavor or fear of the future.   Likewise, Fear of the future has multiple facets; one may fear failure upon success, responsibility of others after success or a fear of holding onto ones current self.   The learned, cognitive and physiological aspects of fear and fear of failure run in a circular fashion affecting each other. 

Direct excerpt from Fear of Failure, Panicked at the Prospect of Prosperity

“Fear called one of the three unlearned emotional responses by John Watson, is a feeling or mental state which can autonomously affect or be triggered by an individual’s mental, behavioral and physiological states (Steimer, 2002).  Fear of failure embodies a fear of feeling ashamed via failure in some aspect of life, whether be perceived or veridical and whether be in the present or future endeavors (Alkhazaleh, & Mahasneh, 2016; Bedewy & Gabriel, 2015; Chen, Chen, Lin, Kee, & Shui, 2009; Conroy, 2001; Ramya & Parthasarathy, 2002)” (Beaver, 2017).

           There are two methods of self-handicapping; behavioral which encompasses use of or withdrawal from alcohol and drugs and self-reported self-handicapping where individuals cede to current unknown knowledge with little to no effort.   Studies indicate individuals who continually use avoidance as a way of avoiding failure become acclimated to and may develop avoidant tendencies.  A common physical complaint is loss of sleep due to stress and anxiety, which stem from FoF, specifically fear of not meeting the expectations of others, inability to handle workload, worries of the future, exams and concerns over career selection. 

            FoF has also been shown to trigger acute stress, which has a multitude of detrimental outcomes including elevate blood pressure and vascular hypertrophy. 

Direct excerpt from Fear of Failure, Panicked at the Prospect of Prosperity

“Additionally stress hormones are released upon elevated stress, which suppresses the immune system by altering cytokine profiles (Schneiderman, Ironson & Siegel, 2005).  If an individual becomes accustomed to high levels of stress and dealing with the psychological repercussions which have been shown to cause depression, anxiety and eating disorders, amongst many other diagnosable disorders, within the cultural setting their learned adaptations may cause further detriment to their health (Chen, Chen, Lin, Kee, & Shui, 2009; Conroy, 2001).  Likewise an individual’s cognition or ability to properly process events, emotions and circumstances may be affected by physiological changes in the amygdala inhibiting the ability to appropriately respond and react to threatening stimuli (Steimer, 2002).  Biological, learned and cognitive motivators are intertwined influencing each other from genesis of an event to the denouement” (Beaver, 2017).
 
            It is important to remember the adverse effects fear has on the body and mind.  Additionally it is beneficial to assess our behaviors and the why’s of why we may have behaviors which lend themselves to failure in some aspect of life.  Furthermore, if we keep the knowledge that an individual’s self-handicapping behavior may be a product of a fear of succeeding or fear of letting others down, we may be able to be more compassionate in a time of need.

References:
Alkhazaleh, Z. M., & Mahasneh, A. M. (2016). Fear of failure among a sample of Jordanian undergraduate students. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 9, 53-60. doi:10.2147/PRBM.S96384

Beaver, J. (2017). Fear of Failure: Panicked by the Prospect of Prosperity. Capella University.

Bedewy, D., & Gabriel, A. (2015). Examining perceptions of academic stress and its sources among university students: The Perception of Academic Stress Scale. Health Psychology Open, 2(2), 2055102915596714. http://doi.org/10.1177/2055102915596714

Chen, L. H., Chen, M., Lin, M., Kee, Y. H., & Shui, S. (2009). Fear of failure and self-handicapping in college physical education. Psychological Reports, 105(3), 707-713. doi:10.2466/PR0.105.3.707-713

Conroy, D. E. (2001). Progress in the development of a multidimensional measure of fear of failure: The performance failure appraisal inventory (pfai). Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 14(4), 431-452. doi:10.1080/10615800108248365

Ramya, N., & Parthasarathy, R. (2009). A Study on Coping Patterns of Junior College Students. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 31(1), 45–47. http://doi.org/10.4103/0253-7176.53315

​Schneiderman, N., Ironson, G., & Siegel, S. D. (2005). STRESS AND HEALTH: Psychological, Behavioral, and Biological Determinants. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1, 607–628. http://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.144141

Steimer, T. (2002). The biology fo fear and anxiety related behaviors. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience (1294-8322). 4 (3), p. 23