Examining the Relationship Between Maladaptive Perfectionism and Social Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Self-Compassion

Akkus K., Vardar M., Tuncel A., Sutcu S. T.

PSYCHOLOGICAL REPORTS, vol.128, no.5, pp.3377-3392, 2025 (SSCI) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 128 Issue: 5
  • Publication Date: 2025
  • Doi Number: 10.1177/00332941231206352
  • Journal Name: PSYCHOLOGICAL REPORTS
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Periodicals Index Online, AgeLine, ATLA Religion Database, Business Source Elite, Business Source Premier, Child Development & Adolescent Studies, CINAHL, EBSCO Education Source, Education Abstracts, Educational research abstracts (ERA), Gender Studies Database, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Psycinfo, Public Affairs Index
  • Page Numbers: pp.3377-3392
  • Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University Affiliated: No

Abstract

Previous studies have indicated a relationship between perfectionism and social anxiety symptoms, but the mechanisms between these concepts are not well-defined yet. This study focused on the mediator role of self-compassion in the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and social anxiety symptoms controlling self-esteem. It is hypothesized that maladaptive perfectionism would be related to lower levels of self-compassion and lower levels of self-compassion related to greater social anxiety symptoms controlling self-esteem. The sample consisted of 389 university students who completed a battery of instruments, including measures of The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), The Big Three Perfectionism Scale (BTPS), The Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), and The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). Simple mediation analyses with bootstrapping demonstrated that self-compassion has a significant mediator role in the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and social anxiety when self-esteem is not included in the model. However, results also revealed that the indirect effect of self-compassion is no longer significant when self-esteem is included in the model as a covariate. Findings suggest that self-compassion has no mediator role independent from self-esteem in the context of perfectionism and social anxiety.