Self-Esteem as a Mediator between Perfectionism and Social Anxiety

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between perfectionism and social anxiety by examining the mediating role of self-esteem. Using multistage sampling method, 222 third-grade high school students (115 female, 107 male) were selected. To test the hypothesized model, the following instruments were administered: Social anxiety scale (JSAS), self-esteem, and multidimensional perfectionism scale. We performed simultaneous multiple regression analyses to test the model. We found that Socially-Prescribed Perfectionism (SPP) was a positive predictor of social anxiety, however no significant association found for Self-Oriented Perfectionism (SOP). Moreover, SPP was a negative predictor and SOP was a positive predictor of self-esteem. Finally, we found that self-esteem mediated partially the relationship between SPP and social anxiety. Taken together, our findings provided partial support for the proposed model and indicated that SPP reduces self-esteem, which in turn, leads to more social anxiety. The results have important implications for educational and clinical settings.