Trait perfectionism and attitudes towards people with disabilities

Attitudes towards people with disabilities play an integral role in determining social inclusion. Unfortunately, attitudes are often negative and based on views of disability that are focused on impairment. The current study aimed to examine whether a commitment to perfection and flawlessness, in the form of trait perfectionism, predicted attitudes towards people with disabilities. A cross-sectional survey-based design was used. One hundred and eighty-eight university students completed measures of trait perfectionism (self-oriented, socially prescribed, and other-oriented) and an indirect measure of attitudes towards people with disabilities (negative affect, interpersonal stress, calm, positive cognitions and distancing behavior). A series of multiple regression analyses revealed that socially prescribed perfectionism positively predicted negative affect, interpersonal stress, and distancing behavior. The other two trait dimensions of perfectionism did not predict any aspect of attitudes towards people with disabilities. The findings can be explained by the relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism and difficulties interacting with others generally or, alternatively, the projection of socially prescribed beliefs on to others when measuring attitudes in an indirect fashion (i.e., others are perceived to have negative attitudes towards people with disabilities).