Relationship satisfaction has profound implications for psychological and physical well-being, yet it significantly decreases while couples are raising children. Perfectionism—the tendency to expect perfection from oneself, others, and/or to perceive expectations of perfection as coming from others—has generally been associated with lower relationship satisfaction. In a sample of 382 married and/or cohabitating U.S. adults, this study found that the interpersonal dimensions of perfectionism (partner-oriented perfectionism and partner-prescribed perfectionism) were negatively associated with relationship satisfaction, while self-oriented perfectionism was positively associated with relationship satisfaction. Raising children was negatively associated with relationship satisfaction, and moderated the association between partner-prescribed perfectionism and relationship satisfaction; the negative association was significant for both groups, but stronger for those raising children than those not raising children. This study highlights the importance of addressing perfectionism in intimate relationships, particularly for couples raising children, and informs possible interventions with couples and families.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.