Perception matters for clinical perfectionism and social anxiety

Abstract

Despite research documenting a relationship between social anxiety and perfectionism, very little research has examined the relationship between social anxiety and clinical perfectionism, defined as the combination of high personal standards and high maladaptive perfectionistic evaluative concern. In the current studies we examined whether clinical perfectionism predicted social anxiety in a large sample of undergraduates (N = 602), in a clinical sample of participants diagnosed with social anxiety disorder (SAD; N = 180), and by using a variance decomposition model of self-and informant-report of perfectionism (N = 134). Using self-report, we found that an interaction of personal standards and evaluative concern predicted both social interaction anxiety and fear of scrutiny, but not in the theorized direction. Specifically, we found that self-report of low standards and high evaluative concern was associated with the highest levels of social anxiety, suggesting that when individuals with SAD hold low expectations for themselves combined with high concerns about evaluation, social anxiety symptoms may increase. Alternatively, when an informants’ perspective was considered, and more consistent with the original theory, we found that the interaction of informant-only report of personal standards and shared-report (between both primary participant and informant) of concern over mistakes was associated with self-reported social anxiety, such that high concern over mistakes and high personal standards predicted the highest levels of social anxiety. Theoretical, clinical, and measurement implications for clinical perfectionism are discussed.

Psychological factors of social anxiety in Russian adolescents

“…At the same time, high personal standards may be related to healthy functioning (Dibartolo, Frost, Chang, Lasota, & Grills, 2004). Our results are in line with those found in the literature on social anxiety; the measure of personal standards had a weak negative relationship with social anxiety (Shumaker & Rodebaugh, 2009); low personal standards and high evaluative concern were associated with the greatest social anxiety in adolescents (Levinson et. al., 2015).…”

Understanding the Role of Dimensions of Perfectionism on Anxiety Sensitivity

“…This may be particularly important for those wishing to obtain social approval and avoid social disapproval. Therefore, some perfectionists may show reluctance to express their emotions and to be involved in social situations where their emotions will be visible because there is a risk of showing symptoms of fear or distress [14]. Yet, it may be inevitable for some individuals to engage in such manifestations because such people may have occupations requiring them to be involved in public performances.…”

“…Research looking at the role played by perfectionism in psychopathology has revealed that the construct of perfectionism can be conceptualized in different ways [3,10,11]. Maladaptive perfectionists usually fail in their efforts due to their unrealistic standards and goals and as a result it becomes inevitable for them to experience anxiety, depression, and sense of inadequacy [11,12,13,14,15,21].…”

“…In case of stress, it is normal for anxiety to occur and anxiety has many characteristics being physical, emotional, cognitive, or behavioural in nature [27]. When an evolutionary perspective is adopted, it is normal for anxiety to increase the awareness of potential threats to safety [14]. However, significant amount of stress or lack of capacity to perform even daily routine functions can be result of excessive or chronic anxiety [29,65].…”

How Should Discrepancy Be Assessed in Perfectionism Research? A Psychometric Analysis and Proposed Refinement of the Almost Perfect Scale–Revised

“…Why is this discrepancy subscale worth investigating? First, extensive correlational research with this subscale has shown that discrepancy is almost invariably associated with various forms of maladjustment across various types of respondents, including adolescents (Gilman & Ashby, Assessing Discrepancy 4 2003), university students (Paulson & Rutledge, 2014), and clinical patients (Levinson et al, 2015). Second, the discrepancy dimension has been examined both as a vulnerability factor and a key mediator of the association that perfectionism and various negative outcomes (Sherry, MacKinnon, Fossum, Antony, Stewart, Sherry, Nealis, & Mushquash, 2013;Sherry, MacKinnon, Macneil, & Fitzpatrick, 2013).…”