What percentage of people self sabotage? No survey has ever produced that number. There is no representative prevalence study for self-sabotage, and none for fear of success either. What exists is a small, real body of research: a validated relationship-sabotage scale built on volunteer samples, five decades of self-handicapping experiments, one story-completion study that gave fear of success its name, and one current population survey measuring fear of failure inside a single decision. This page presents each with its population, its data-collection year, and a plain label: inference toward the question.
Key statistics
- No representative population survey has ever measured how many people self-sabotage, and the one validated instrument covering a slice of the behaviour, the Relationship Sabotage Scale, reports scale structure with no prevalence rate (Peel & Caltabiano, 2021).
- The Relationship Sabotage Scale was built on three separate samples of 321, 608 and 436 English-speaking volunteers, 1,365 in total, recruited online between June 2018 and December 2020, producing 12 items across three factors: defensiveness, trust difficulty, and lack of relationship skills (Peel & Caltabiano, 2021).
- Across 36 field studies of school and university students pooled in a 2014 meta-analysis whose primary studies each carry their own collection year, academic self-handicapping correlated with lower achievement at r = -0.23 among 25,550 students, individual effects ranging from r = -0.46 to r = 0.02; an association, with no causal claim made (Schwinger, Wirthwein, Lemmer, & Steinmayr, 2014).
- Among 411 consecutive patients at a university family medicine clinic in Tulsa, Oklahoma, 6.6 percent reported at least one deliberate self-sabotaging behaviour other than not taking a prescribed medication (25.1 percent) or not seeking care when needed (37.2 percent); the paper was published in 1997 and leaves its fieldwork year undisclosed (Sansone, Wiederman, Sansone, & Mehnert-Kay, 1997).
- Fear of success entered psychology through one story-completion sample in which 65 percent of the college women wrote endings where a woman’s success at the top of her medical school class brought negative consequences; the 1972 article reports incidence by age, sex, education and occupation across subjects tested between 1964 and 1971 (Horner, 1972).
- Fear of failure carries a current representative figure attached to one decision: 49 percent of more than 150,000 adults in the GEM Adult Population Survey, fielded across 51 economies in 2024, said fear of failure would stop them starting a business, up from 44 percent in the 2019 fieldwork (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2024/2025 Global Report).
- Measures of fear of success and fear of failure overlap heavily: 263 predominantly Caucasian college women completed both alongside test anxiety and achievement motivation scales, and every scale proved factorially complex, loading onto neuroticism and conscientiousness; published 1995, fieldwork year undisclosed (Piedmont, 1995).
Cite this page
APA: Eduard, S. (2026, August 17). What percentage of people self sabotage? What the research measures. StumbleTowardTheLight. https://stumbletowardthelight.com/what-percentage-of-people-self-sabotage/
MLA: Eduard, Sebastian. “What Percentage of People Self Sabotage? What the Research Measures.” StumbleTowardTheLight, 17 Aug. 2026, stumbletowardthelight.com/what-percentage-of-people-self-sabotage/.
The source table
| # | Statistic | Data collected | Source type | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Relationship Sabotage Scale built on samples of 321, 608 and 436 volunteers, 1,365 total; 12 items, three factors; no prevalence rate reported | June 2018 to December 2020 | primary study | Peel & Caltabiano, 2021, BMC Psychology, with its published correction of October 6, 2021 |
| 2 | Academic self-handicapping and achievement correlate at r = -0.23 across 36 field studies, 49 effect sizes, N = 25,550; effects range r = -0.46 to r = 0.02 | each primary study carries its own collection year; meta-analysis published 2014 | primary study (meta-analysis) | Schwinger, Wirthwein, Lemmer, & Steinmayr, 2014, Journal of Educational Psychology |
| 3 | 6.6% of 411 consecutive primary care patients reported at least one deliberate sabotage behaviour after the two most common items, skipped medication (25.1%) and delayed care (37.2%), were excluded | fieldwork undisclosed; published 1997 | primary study | Sansone, Wiederman, Sansone, & Mehnert-Kay, 1997, Archives of Family Medicine |
| 4 | College students finished a story about a top medical student; 65% of the women wrote negative consequences for her success | sample year undisclosed; article’s window 1964 to 1971; published 1972 | primary study | Horner, 1972, Journal of Social Issues |
| 5 | 49% of 150,000+ adults across 51 economies said fear of failure would stop them starting a business, up from 44% in 2019 | 2024 fieldwork (2019 comparison wave); published February 18, 2025 | primary study (multi-country population survey) | Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2024/2025 Global Report, cross-referenced against the University of Glasgow summary |
| 6 | 263 predominantly Caucasian college women completed fear of success, fear of failure, test anxiety and achievement motivation measures; all proved factorially complex, loading onto neuroticism and conscientiousness | fieldwork undisclosed; published 1995 | primary study | Piedmont, 1995, Sex Roles |
| 7 | Male undergraduates given unsolvable problems followed by praise chose a performance-inhibiting drug before a second test, the experiment that named self-handicapping | fieldwork undisclosed; published 1978 | primary study | Berglas & Jones, 1978, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |
| 8 | The theory behind the founding fear of success number was published 54 years ago | theory published 1972; arithmetic current to 2026 | derived (2026 minus 1972 = 54 years) | Horner, 1972, Journal of Social Issues |
What percentage of people self sabotage?
There is no figure, because there has been no count. Self-sabotage is a description of behaviour. No national health survey or large representative panel has asked a population whether they do it. The one validated instrument covering a slice of it, the Relationship Sabotage Scale, scores how strongly a person leans on defensiveness, trust difficulty and a lack of relationship skills inside a romantic partnership (Peel & Caltabiano, 2021). Its authors state their sample of 1,365 online volunteers skewed heavily female with minimal responses from gender-diverse and sexually diverse participants, so it describes the people who volunteered. The pattern itself is described in what self-sabotage is.
How common is self sabotage?
Common enough that psychology has spent five decades measuring it in laboratories and classrooms, with the population share still unmeasured. Edward Jones and Steven Berglas named the behaviour self-handicapping in 1978, describing it as erecting an obstacle in advance so a poor performance has an explanation waiting (Jones & Berglas, 1978). Their companion experiment gave male undergraduates unsolvable problems followed by praise, then a choice of pills; the students whose success felt undeserved reached for the one that would blur the next result (Berglas & Jones, 1978). The mechanism behind that choice sits in the psychology of self-sabotage.
Self sabotage statistics
Every number that exists sits inside a defined setting, and each belongs to that setting alone. In classrooms, Schwinger and colleagues pooled 36 field studies covering 25,550 students in a 2014 meta-analysis and found academic self-handicapping associated with lower achievement at r = -0.23, across a spread of individual effects from r = -0.46 to r = 0.02 (Schwinger, Wirthwein, Lemmer, & Steinmayr, 2014). In a doctor’s office, Sansone and colleagues surveyed 411 consecutive patients and found 6.6 percent reporting at least one deliberate sabotage behaviour beyond skipping a prescribed medication (25.1 percent) or not seeking care when needed (37.2 percent) (Sansone, Wiederman, Sansone, & Mehnert-Kay, 1997). Both figures describe the group who was asked. The forms the behaviour takes in ordinary life sit in examples of self-sabotaging behaviour, and its shape inside a partnership in self-sabotage in relationships.
What is the difference between fear of success and fear of failure?
Fear of failure is the anticipation of shame attached to falling short, and it rises as the possibility of a poor outcome comes into view. Fear of success, as Matina Horner defined it in 1972, is the anticipation of social cost attached to winning; in her story-completion fieldwork, women asked to finish a story about a woman at the top of her medical school class wrote endings full of rejection and isolation (Horner, 1972). Set side by side, one construct is organised around the consequences of losing, the other around the consequences of arriving. Search engines merge the two constantly, returning fear of failure figures to a reader asking about fear of success, which is how a 2024 entrepreneurship number stands in for Horner’s story-completion study.
Keeping them apart in measurement has proved harder than keeping them apart in definition. Piedmont gave 263 predominantly Caucasian college women measures of fear of success, fear of failure, test anxiety and achievement motivation, and found every scale factorially complex, with the variance running to neuroticism and conscientiousness (Piedmont, 1995). The paper appeared in 1995 and does not date its fieldwork.
Fear of success statistics: where the numbers come from
The founding number is 65 percent, the share of college women in Horner’s single story-completion sample she scored as producing fear-of-success imagery (Horner, 1972). The theory carrying it was published 54 years ago. That story-completion exercise has been carried forward for five decades as though it were a prevalence rate.
Fear of failure carries a current representative measurement of its own. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor put a single question about starting a business to more than 150,000 adults across 51 economies in 2024, and 49 percent said fear of failure would stop them, up from 44 percent in the 2019 wave (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2024/2025 Global Report). That 49 percent belongs to one decision in one domain. Why the pattern grips people is the subject of why people self-sabotage.
Methodology
Statistics here were selected by first establishing which questions have been measured in a defined population and which have only been described, then locating the earliest primary document behind each measured figure. Peel and Caltabiano’s scale paper, its published correction, Schwinger and colleagues’ meta-analysis, Piedmont’s factor study and Horner’s Journal of Social Issues article were each read through the publishing journal or an indexed full-text copy, with sample sizes, recruitment methods and collection windows taken from the papers. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor figures were traced to the 2024/2025 Global Report and cross-checked against summaries from two GEM partner institutions. Undisclosed fieldwork years are recorded as undisclosed. Sources last verified August 17, 2026.
Cite this page
APA: Eduard, S. (2026, August 17). What percentage of people self sabotage? What the research measures. StumbleTowardTheLight. https://stumbletowardthelight.com/what-percentage-of-people-self-sabotage/
MLA: Eduard, Sebastian. “What Percentage of People Self Sabotage? What the Research Measures.” StumbleTowardTheLight, 17 Aug. 2026, stumbletowardthelight.com/what-percentage-of-people-self-sabotage/.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a statistic for how many people self-sabotage? No representative population survey has measured it. The closest validated instrument, the Relationship Sabotage Scale, was developed on 1,365 online volunteers recruited between June 2018 and December 2020 (Peel & Caltabiano, 2021).
What is the most reliable self-sabotage number available? Across 36 field studies covering 25,550 students, pooled in a 2014 meta-analysis with collection years varying by study, academic self-handicapping correlated with lower achievement at r = -0.23, an association among students (Schwinger, Wirthwein, Lemmer, & Steinmayr, 2014).
How many people have a fear of success? No survey has counted. The founding figure comes from a single story-completion sample of college women, 65 percent of whom produced fear-of-success imagery (Horner, 1972).
Are fear of success and fear of failure the same thing? They carry separate definitions, and their measures overlap heavily: 263 college women completed both alongside test anxiety scales, and every scale loaded onto neuroticism and conscientiousness (Piedmont, 1995).
What percentage of people are held back by fear of failure? For one specific decision, 49 percent of more than 150,000 adults surveyed across 51 economies in 2024 said fear of failure would stop them starting a business (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2024/2025 Global Report).
References
Berglas, S., & Jones, E. E. (1978). Drug choice as a self-handicapping strategy in response to noncontingent success. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36(4), 405-417.
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. (2025). GEM 2024/2025 global report: Entrepreneurship reality check.
Horner, M. S. (1972). Toward an understanding of achievement-related conflicts in women. Journal of Social Issues, 28(2), 157-176.
Jones, E. E., & Berglas, S. (1978). Control of attributions about the self through self-handicapping strategies: The appeal of alcohol and the role of underachievement. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 4(2), 200-206.
Peel, R., & Caltabiano, N. (2021). Correction to: The relationship sabotage scale: An evaluation of factor analyses and constructive validity. BMC Psychology, 9, 153.
Peel, R., & Caltabiano, N. (2021). The relationship sabotage scale: An evaluation of factor analyses and constructive validity. BMC Psychology, 9, 146.
Piedmont, R. L. (1995). Another look at fear of success, fear of failure, and test anxiety: A motivational analysis using the five-factor model. Sex Roles, 32(3-4), 139-158.
Sansone, R. A., Wiederman, M. W., Sansone, L. A., & Mehnert-Kay, S. (1997). Sabotaging one’s own medical care: Prevalence in a primary care setting. Archives of Family Medicine, 6(6), 583-586.
Schwinger, M., Wirthwein, L., Lemmer, G., & Steinmayr, R. (2014). Academic self-handicapping and achievement: A meta-analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 106(3), 744-761.