Relations Between Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism, Self-Efficacy, and Subjective Well-Being

Abstract

This study investigated how perfectionism is connected to general self-efficacy and subjective well-being. Two hypotheses were put forward: 1) Adaptive perfectionism is positively linked with self-efficacy and subjective well-being. 2) Maladaptive perfectionism is negatively linked with self-efficacy and subjective well-being.\rThe participants were 254 persons aged 18 years and above (average age M = 24.63, SD = 5.30), 76.8% of the participants were female and 23.2% were male. To collect data, these methods were used: General Self-Efficacy Scale (Schwarzer, & Jerusalem, 1995), Almost Perfect Scale - Revised Short Form (Slaney et al., 1996) – both scales were translated and adapted to Latvian in this study, Latvian version of Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (Upmane, 2009), and Latvian version of Satisfaction with Life Scale (Maslovska, Voitkāne, Miezīte, & Raščevska, 2005).\rThe results show that adaptive perfectionism is linked with higher self-efficacy, higher positive emotions and less negative emotions, in turn, maladaptive perfectionism is linked with lower self-efficacy, lower positive emotions and higher negative emotions. In addition, level of self-efficacy and positive and negative emotions for maladaptive perfectionists does not have statistically significant differences from nonperfectionists indicators, complementing existing research that suggests perfectionism has adaptive and maladaptive components. However, satisfaction with life indicators show, that there are no statistically significant differences between groups of the adaptive, maladaptive perfectionism and nonperfectionism.