Predictive role of retrospective assessment of parental attitudes of fathers vs. perfectionism and self-esteem of women in early adulthood

Abstract

The research carried out so far shows that the parental attitudes of fathers play a significant part in the course of psychosocial development of their children. However, hardly any research refers to the impact of retrospective assessment of parental attitudes of fathers on the functioning of adult women. Therefore, it is essential to verify the assumption that selfesteem and perfectionism of adult women are determined by the quality of parental attitudes of their fathers. Aim. The aim of this research was to determine differentiation in respect of self-esteem and perfectionism in the groups of women selected based on the criterion of the quality of retrospective assessment of parental attitudes of fathers. I also searched for predictive value of retrospectively perceived parental attitudes of fathers for the perfectionism and self-esteem of women in early adulthood as well as correlations between self-esteem and types of perfectionism. Material and method. The research included 87 women in early adulthood (M = 21.64; SD = 4.84), from the Łódź Province. The following research tools were used: Questionnaire of Retrospective Assessment of Parental Attitudes, Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism Questionnaire, Multidimensional Self-esteem Inventory. Results. The obtained research results indicate the occurrence of differentiation with regard to self-esteem and perfectionism of women in terms of the quality of retrospective assessment of parental attitudes of fathers. The women who assessed the parental attitudes of their fathers negatively obtained higher mean scores in maladaptive perfectionism and lower ones in general self-esteem and its dimensions (i.e., being loved, self-control, defensive strengthening of selfesteem, self-acceptance, popularity, identity integration) than the women who described the parental attitudes of their fathers as positive. It was found out that retrospective assessment of parental attitudes of fathers, both in the positive and negative aspects, had predictive value in the direction consistent with the expectations for maladaptive perfectionism as well as general self-esteem and its dimensions. It was shown that there were significant correlations between types of perfectionism and general self-esteem. Conclusions. The fact of indicating the role of retrospective assessment of parental attitudes of fathers in the context of building of self-esteem and perfectionism demonstrated by young women contributes to updating the psychological knowledge in this respect as well as plays a significant part in psychotherapy.