Perfectionism and aggression following unintentional, ambiguous, and intentional provocation

Abstract

The social disconnection model of perfectionism posits that perfectionism is positively related to various indicators of social disconnection including hostility and aggression. Recent findings, however, indicate that only other-oriented and sociallyprescribed perfectionism are positively related to aggression, not self-oriented perfectionism. The present study (N = 271) further examined the perfectionism-aggression relationships using social vignettes differentiating aggression following unintentional, ambiguous, and intentional provocation. Results showed thatwhen the overlap between the perfectionism dimensions was controlledonly other-oriented perfectionism showed positive relationships with aggression across provocation situations. In contrast, socially prescribed perfectionism showed a positive relationship only with aggression following unintentional provocation, and self-oriented perfectionism showed a negative relationship. The findings suggest that, whereas people high in selforiented perfectionism tend to be unaggressive, people high in other-oriented perfectionism have a general tendency toward aggression, and people high in socially prescribed perfectionism show a hostile attribution bias.

Mechanisms Linking Perfectionism and Social Anxiety: The Role of Hostility and Disqualification of Positive Social Outcomes

“…Specifically, these variables mediated the relationship between selfcritical and narcissistic perfectionism with social anxiety. These findings are consistent those of Stoeber and Hadjivassiliou 23 and provide support for the concepts of objective and subjective social disconnection proposed by the perfectionism social disconnection model. 20 Furthermore, the cognitive vulnerability stress interaction model suggests that maladaptive perfectionism beliefs and achievement-related events may influence biased interpretations, resulting in cognitive distortions, such as DPSO, as well as psychological distress.…”

“…Specifically, these variables mediated the relationship between self-critical and narcissistic perfectionism with social anxiety. These findings are consistent those of Stoeber and Hadjivassiliou23 and provide support for the concepts of objective and subjective social disconnection proposed by the perfectionism social disconnection model 20…”

“…The lack of an association between rigid perfectionism and social anxiety through hostility and DPSO is not surprising; this finding is consistent with the work of Stoeber and Hadjivassiliou23 who found that self-oriented perfectionists (similar to those with rigid perfectionism in our study) were unaggressive, while socially prescribed perfectionists (similar to self-critical perfectionism in our study) exhibited a hostile attribution bias, and other-oriented perfectionists (similar to narcissistic perfectionism in our study) displayed aggressive tendencies. Self-oriented or rigid perfectionism is associated with the pursuit of prosocial goals such as nurturance and intimacy and is not related to social disconnection and interpersonal hostility.…”

“…Motivated by their need to avoid shame and humiliation and establish social connections with others, perfectionists strive to appear perfect but ironically often end up being viewed as hostile and unsocial 22. According to the perfectionism social disconnection model, individuals high in other-oriented perfectionism are inclined to be aggressive, while those high in socially prescribed perfectionism tend to show a hostile attribution bias 23…”

“…22 According to the perfectionism social disconnection model, individuals high in other-oriented perfectionism are inclined to be aggressive, while those high in socially prescribed perfectionism tend to show a hostile attribution bias. 23 Another model relevant to SAD is the bivalent fear of evaluation model, 24 which proposes that 2 cognitive biases, fear of negative evaluation and fear of positive evaluation can be distressing in individuals with social anxiety. Evolutionarily, both the fear of negative and the fear of positive evaluation may have originated as threat detection systems, the former prompting us to behave in ways to avoid social exclusion and subsequent loss of resources 25 and the latter motivating us to avoid behaviors eliciting positive evaluations to prevent competition and conflict.…”