This study investigates the effect of parent's academic expectation and the theory of intelligence on underachiever's
self-handicapping strategies. To achieve this aim, this study examined the relationships among the parent's academic
expectation, the theory of intelligence, and self-handicapping strategies and examined the differences that occurred
between lower-achievers and higher-achievers in the relationships among the variables. The results were as follows. First, the
parents’ academic expectation had an influence on the incremental theory of intelligence in both lower-achievers and higher.
However, the effects of parent's expectation on the entity theory of intelligence were not found in the lower-achievers unlike
the significant effect found in higher-achievers. Second, the influence of parent's academic expectation on handicapping strategies
through the theory of intelligence showed different patterns depending on the students’ level of achievement. For the
lower achieving group, specifically, the parents’ academic expectation influenced self-handicapping strategies through the
mediation of the theory of intelligence. On the contrary, such effects for the lower-achieving group were not found.