Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
890837 | Personality and Individual Differences | 2013 | 6 Pages |
•This longitudinal study investigated adolescent development of perfectionism.•Parental expectations predicted increases in socially prescribed perfectionism.•No such effect was found for self-oriented perfectionism.•Parental criticism had no longitudinal effects.•The findings support the social expectations model of maladaptive perfectionism.
Adolescence is regarded a key period when individual differences in perfectionism develop. Yet, so far only a few longitudinal studies have investigated the development of perfectionism in adolescents. Using a longitudinal correlational design with 381 adolescents aged 15–19 years, the present study investigated whether perceived parental expectations and criticism predicted longitudinal increases in self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism over 7–9 months. Results showed that perceived parental expectations predicted longitudinal increases in socially prescribed perfectionism: Adolescents who perceived that their parents had high expectations of them at Time 1, showed increased socially prescribed perfectionism from Time 1 to Time 2 compared to adolescents who did not perceive their parents having such high expectations. No such effect was found for self-oriented perfectionism. The findings provide supportive evidence for the social expectations model of the development of perfectionism regarding socially prescribed perfectionism, but not self-oriented perfectionism. Implications of this finding for the understanding of the development of perfectionism and future studies are discussed.