Forbes December 12, 2025
Most of us, at some point in our lives, have stood in the way of our own growth. We make progress on a project, start to feel hopeful about a relationship or finally get on track with a goal, and then we do something that undermines it. We fall into a procrastination spiral, pick a fight or simply quit; in doing so, we talk ourselves out of something that could potentially bring us happiness. There’s a name for this kind of behavior: self-sabotage.
It looks like standing in your own way, but beneath the surface, there are deep cognitive and emotional dynamics at work. Here are four well-studied reasons why people sabotage good things, based on research in psychology.
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