FEAR OF SUCCESS.

There are individuals who have a basic ambivalence about succeeding; they want but also not want to SUCCEED.

While those who have a marked fear of failure prefer to retreat from competitive situations, and from the risks involved in trying to improve their career prospects, success-fearing individuals welcome success-oriented activities. 

Many of them are exceedingly ambitious and desire to be recognized for their achievements. But as soon as they've made any significant progress towards a desired objective, they feel a compulsion to check themselves and to find ways to sabotage success.

Development.

Most success-fearing people internalize society's mixed up attitudes towards success early in life. On one hand, society extolls the competitive and individualistic spirit. Those who succeed are admired for their competence, talent, courage, enterprise and other positive attributes. 

Those who fail are viewed with contempt or pity. Individuals supposedly fail because they are incompetent or lazy.On the other hand, there is a cultural admonition that nice people should be modest, self-effacing, unselfish, and giving. 

Success is associated with greed and is looked upon as something immoral or even contemptible. It has become fashionable, of late, to be cynical about success and to project an organizational self of harmless nonentity.

Childhood's Impact.

These paradoxical and conflicting attitudes towards success were transmitted through their parents and older siblings. There is also a distinctive home atmosphere that seems to foster the development of the fear-of-success syndrome. Theses people were invariably reared in homes where high standards of success and competition were encouraged and valued. 

At the same time, however, they were discouraged, or even punished, if they were too competitive or if they showed any overt pleasure in winning. Consciously they are anxious to succeed, but their subconscious fears and inhibitions about succeeding are activated soon after they've embarked on the path to success.

Persistence in Adult life.

This is because of their suppressed childhood experiences. These people use a variety of defense mechanisms and rationalizations to protect them from manxiety created both by their initial self-enhancing drives and later self-defeating maneuvers.

• Denial of any internal desire to succeed.
• Attribute their success to luck or others' help, or stupidity.
• Saying the accomplishment was easy.