Perfectionism, envy and hypercompetitiveness among university students

Abstract

Annual reports of student counseling services and empirical findings demonstrate growing prevalence of student maladjustment. Perfectionism is among highly disputable factors of this tendency. A study was conducted in the sample of 226 Russian university students. Indices of perfectionism, social comparisons, envy and competitiveness were examined. Students high in perfectionism reported significantly higher levels of contrastive upward social comparisons, envy, hyper-competitiveness and depression than those low in perfectionism. Envy and social comparison orientation partially mediated a relationship between perfectionism and depression.