It depends: Perfectionism as a moderator of experimentally induced stress

Specific diathesis stress models assume that perfectionistic strivings (PS) and perfectionistic concerns (PC) are differentially associated with stress responses. The present study expanded existing research by investigating the incremental validity of interactive effects of PS and PC beyond their main effects on affective and endocrine (cortisol) stress responses. We also applied an experimental between-subjects design to standardize and systematically vary situational demand. We divided 84 participants between two experimental conditions (high vs. low situational demand). Moderated regression analyses on the affective stress response revealed a significant three-way interaction of PS, PC, and situational demand. This result affirms that the effects of PS, PC, and situational demand must not be interpreted independently of each other. For the endocrine stress response, the analyses revealed only a main effect of situational demand but no main or interactive effects of PS and PC.