An investigation of perfectionism and its relationship to perceived parenting variables and life satisfaction

Recent research has viewed perfectionism as multicategorical, including an adaptive and maladaptive type (Rice & Ashby, 2007; Rice, Ashby, & Slaney, 1998). As a result, there has been an emergence of research on the relationship between adaptive perfectionism and well-being, suggesting that high standards are related to positive outcomes (Diener, Oishi, & Lucas, 2005). Factors such as parental criticism, parental expectations, and security of attachment have also been explored in terms of their contribution to development of perfectionism (e.g. Frost et al., 1991; Rice & Mirzadeh, 2000).;The purpose of this study was to extend our understanding of the relationship between different types of perfectionism and parenting variables. It was also aimed at providing more empirical support for the positive aspects of perfectionism by demonstrating its relationship to life satisfaction. One-hundred and seventy-eight participants were asked to participate and complete self-report measures. Based on their scores on the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised, participants were classified into three groups: adaptive perfectionists, maladaptive perfectionists, and non-perfectionists.;It was hypothesized that the groups of perfectionists would demonstrate different relationships to parenting variables, namely parental criticism, parental expectations, and parental attachment. It was also hypothesized that adaptive perfectionism would be more significantly related to life satisfaction than maladaptive perfectionism and non-perfectionism. In addition, mediation models were tested to determine if high standards mediated the relationship between parental attachment and life satisfaction, or if parental attachment mediated the relationship between high standards and life satisfaction.;For hypothesis one through three, the results were analyzed as a MANOVA followed by separate univariate ANOVAs. In addition, a t-test was conducted to compare groups on a measure of parental attachment. A multiple regression was performed to explore the difference in variance accounted for on a measure of life satisfaction. It was found that maladaptive perfectionists and non-perfectionists reported higher parental criticism, while there was no difference between groups for parental expectations. Adaptive perfectionists reported greater attachment to parents than maladaptive perfectionists. Adaptive perfectionists reported greater life satisfaction than maladaptive perfectionists and non-perfectionists. Both mediations models were not supported. Clinical implications, limitations, and directions for future research were presented.