Growing Up Perfect: Perfectionism, Problematic Internet Use, and Career Indecision in Emerging Adults

Abstract

Among emerging adults who are career indecisive, perfectionism and problematic Internet use (PIU) are underdeveloped areas of inquiry. The authors examined the relationship between perfectionism and PIU to measure their contributions to career indecision. The full model was significant, yielding an R2 of .46 (p < .0001). PIU accounted for the majority of variance in career indecision (adjusted R2 = .32). Career indecision was also related to maladaptive but not adaptive perfectionism. Counseling implications are discussed.

Doing Gender Online: New Mothers’ Psychological Characteristics, Facebook Use, and Depressive Symptoms

“…Societal prescribed perfectionism may motivate problematic internet use (e.g., preference for online social interaction, compulsive internet use)—according to both U.S. (Lehmann & Konstam, 2011) and non-U.S. studies (Casale, Fioravanti, Flett, & Hewitt, 2014)—in part because the online environment appears to provide a context in which individuals feel that they have more control over the impressions they make on others and therefore the social judgments they receive. As such, new mothers higher in societal-oriented parenting perfectionism may be likely to use Facebook more and experience Facebook more intensely.…”

Which personality traits are associated with cognitions related to problematic Internet use?

“…It has been highlighted that individuals are more likely to identify themselves by their performance on the Internet (Nakamura, ). When looking at personality factors, low self‐esteem (Armstrong et al ., ; Caplan, ; Senol‐Durak & Durak, ; van der Aa et al ., ; Yang & Tung, ), low social self‐efficacy, low internal locus of control (Iskender & Akin, ; Rotsztein, ), high external locus of control (Iskender & Akin, ), high novelty seeking (Ko et al ., ), high shyness (Ebeling‐Witte, Frank & Lester, ; Ryan & Xenos, ) and high maladaptive perfectionism (Lehmann & Konstam, ) are reported to correlate with PIU. Moreover, the dimensions of the MMPI‐2 Addiction Potential Scale evaluating personality traits such as satisfaction with self, lack of self‐efficacy and antisocial acting out are significantly correlated with Internet‐related problems (Armstrong et al ., ).…”

An exploratory study of pre-service teachers’ features related to their online behaviors and Problematic Internet Use in the United States

“…In addition, Davis, Flett, and Besser (2002) suggested that the measurement of PIU can be very useful for pre-employment screening. Lehmann and Konstam (2011) also pointed out that PIU has a significant impact on an individual's career indecision. Therefore, the features of American pre-service teachers' online behaviors and PIU are the major topics to be investigated in the present study.…”

“…The psychological and social impacts of PIU have significant direct and indirect implications for different types of users including adolescents (Gámez-Guadix, VillaGeorge, & Calvete, 2012) and adults (Lehmann & Konstam, 2011). Of those users, college students are a special group which has been studied in relation to PIU in recent years (Acier & Kern, 2011;Caplan, 2010;Ceyhan, 2011;Ceyhan, Ceyhan, & Gurcan, 2007;Huang et al, 2009;Li, Wang, & Wang, 2009;Odaci, 2011;Odaci & Kalkan, 2010;Schoenfeld, 2011;Schoenfeld & Yan, 2012).…”