A Fear of Failure in Educational Setting

Abstract

This study investigated the rationale of people who engage in the behavior of being afraid and threatened to failure in educational setting. The aspects of viewing fear of failure as a motive to avoid failure or as a discouragement because of possible affects to shame and embarrassment in accordance to some researchers. Through viewing and knowing the expected outcomes or consequences before attaining success can elicit fear. Problems may occur in academic setting through achieving students’ goals; however, fear of failure can protect and guide each individuals to have determination to pursue and to do good with different life events. Therefore, this study aims to know the relationship of fear to failure and in order to seek the results that can get because of fear of failure and to know the reactions to these matters that includes; fear of failure as result of family expectations, self-devaluation, and social-devaluation.

Introduction

In this modern generation, the cultures focal point is only about success and perfection where people became terrified to commit mistakes or not to do good in many things, that every individual do not want to be embarrass themselves to other people. According to Nsiah (2017), being afraid of failure does mean you are also afraid to lose the interest and values to other people. Hence, fear of failure is normally means that people are sensitive and conscious enough through engaging with different life events. For an instance, it somehow influence the goals and dreams of someone are pursuing, the different approach that they can use to accomplish or to achieve them and the level of standards you set to indicate success. Fear of failure is one of the biggest and critical issues that many among of individuals go through, which intentionally create and bring several problems and consequences that most people do not understand. One of the concerns is that they do not even know how to respond in this kind of circumstances, as people always taking it seriously without consulting of what are the possible reasons why people have to be afraid of failure.

On the other hand, the noise in social media is one of the reasons why toxicity continuously disseminated through various people, but somehow helps them to be cognizant and an observant to be able to inquisitively study some matters. There are many problems which most of people living out, through these each individual is free to speak out and express their thoughts, opinions, feelings and views about certain concerns. In social media, someone’s opened or spilled out a topic which usually left behind or did not given much attention that suddenly turned out as an interesting topic that needs to be covered. There were students who agreed about that the students who are not really afraid to failure, but afraid to the idea that they cannot able to meet the desired expectations of their families, being ashamed about themselves, and to belittle by others, some reasons may be cliché in sound but that is the fact that everyone have to deal with. Most of students nowadays are discouraged because of the fear to fail, instead of the context that they should be motivated as these failures will help them to reach the peak of success.

The students must have the courage and determination in doing academic tasks before they reach success, and should look for good and positive consequences that may result through hard work in school because it will help them to avoid about the idea of fear of failure. It is significant to know the reasons and nature behind the concept of why we are afraid of failure. Also, it can help those individuals to have background and knowledge in order to think that it is okay to have this in nature as this turns you to be independent and grow up for who you want to be and for what you want to achieve. It is a must to consider other concerns and studies regarding to why having a fear of failure is not healthy. There are different insights when people experience fear of failure; it depends on how they will cope with fear.

Relationship of Fear and Failure

Failure is always associated with fear, the possibility of not able to attain things that you want for a long run can produce so much fear. Researchers in educational psychology, Elliot et al., (1997) emphasize the fear relating to failure is a determinant of student’s behavior and performance. Conroy, Kaye, and Fifer (2007) described fear of failure as an endeavor for excellence that manifested a correlation with hope of success and a motive to avoid failure in critical things supported prevenient shame upon failure. Being burden or given the assigned tasks that each of students are oblige or responsible to do these kind of experience may result to a behavioral or mental problem, which specifically has an impact to their health. Fear in failure is the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral reaction to the negative consequences you anticipate for failing to attain a goal. This can probably lead to a mental breakdown, wherein, they are opposing the sense of what people can get if taking this manner will help everyone to cope. However, everyone should be ready to accept the fact that there’s a tendency to fail.

Fear of Failure as a Result for Family Expectations, Self-devaluation and Social-devaluation

There are possible affects why a student or a person is afraid of failure, these includes; (a) Family Expectations, (b) Self-devaluation, and (c) Social-devaluation. First is family expectations, this is the most common reason why there are students afraid to the idea of failure, for some instance it is not true that they are really afraid to failure because they are afraid to the fact that they will become a failure as daughter or son and as a sister or a brother to their families. They have the fear that they would betray their family; hence, this is also used somehow for them to become more motivated and to have the determination to do well in academic field. Most of the students their goals are to pay back all the sacrifices of their parents, as they are working hard just to give their children a better future. That is why many students value their education so much, because this education is the only thing that no one can take it away to every individual so everyone should treasure it. Although their family, especially their parents, some said that it is okay to failed sometimes, as long as their children were able to lean and know how to be independent in life. Some parents imposed higher standards of excellence to their children relatively to their actions towards education and life situations. According to Sagar and Stoeber (2009) the threat in failure may perceived through mistakes and parental pressured.

Second is self-devaluation, no matter how good students in the field of academics there are really chances that they doubt in their own skills and capabilities. The problem is worse among those that are literally most intellectually capable. Other people are more gifted as they possess the skills and intellect, in contrary the other one are not confident and comfortable on what are the possible consequences they may get through the risks they were involved in. Although they are skilled enough and knowledgeable through many things, we may not go to the idea that they should set their minds that they are able to finish everything, they are able to make everyone’s proud. As failures will make the future uncertain, it can make students’ goals and dreams uncertain. Birney and colleagues’ (1969) described and explained fear of devaluating self-estimate as a threat to change the beliefs of one’s self, specifically by underestimating one’s abilities to perceived tasks and on accomplishing desired expectations or goals.

Lastly, social-devaluation it defines being a loser to others from not able to achieve your goals. Students are afraid of failure because of that they are not good enough unlike other people, there will always be a discrimination and judgment from others and they might able to compare you with other people. People are afraid to be ashamed and to be embarrassed for that mistake of being a failure, there will always has the concept of perfection in this society. Fear of reduction in social value in accordance to the model of Birney and colleagues’(1969) is about the context of others view that person as less performer that she or she may not able to meet the expectations of others based on their own standard of success. These are the common issues and examples as results to fear of failure as individuals were pressured, threatened, and frightened that people could judge and underestimate them for what they just capable of doing. In our society they aim for perfection and excellence of an individual without knowing the possible impacts that could affect to his or her health.

Conclusion

Fear of failure can define as a motive to avoid failure and a discouragement to achieve success, but it depends only to the people on how they will imply this certain behavior in their lives. It is a diverse problematic relation to the lives of people, as included to the students where they experience struggle. People have to consider many areas or concerns in life to be consciously informed on how everyone engaged in this type of condition. In this world people aim for perfection and excellence, and they measure people’s worth through their successes and through their achievements they had in their lives. In a long run, each of people need to accept the truth that no one is perfect, and has tendency to commit failures. It does not mean that others possess these kinds of characteristics; you also need to be like them that you should be fit in their standards of having the higher excellence through various aspects. Everyone is skilled and intellectual, may be people especially students are just afraid to the concept of becoming failure to their families, to themselves, and to others. Therefore, they were not afraid to failures, instead they are afraid to become a failure in the eyes of people in society. People have to see the three possible effects of fear of failure, wherein, those three are the most common issues that some of individuals experiencing and these are; (a) fear of failure as a result to family expectations , (b)fear of failure as a result to self-devaluation, and (c) fear of failure as a result to social-devaluation. (a) It means a person is afraid that he or she may not able to meet the desired expectations of his or her loved ones and afraid to betray or to disappoint them, (b) a fear of being ashamed and embarrass for the possibility that a person may not achieve success because he or she may lack of trust to himself or herself, and his or her own capabilities, and (c) afraid of what others might say if the person failed in any circumstances and they might lose interest to that person. Somehow, there are instances that someone’s failures can create a mental baggage which can affect their mental health and the actions they do. A fear of failure somehow can guide a person to make his or her path straight, because with these an individual can able to know how to cope up or respond in any situations or problem. Fear of failure has a relation to emotions or to behavior of an individual which can create problems on how a person ways of thinking. This study can also address some related issues about fear of failure in the other fields; this can not only imply or propose to an educational setting, instead it can also be studied a fear of failure in relation to different aspects or phenomena like in sports, procrastination and many more. People have a different strategy on how to handle the fear of failure, and it is really manageable, it only depends on a people how.