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Article

Are Perfectionists Always Dissatisfied with Life? An Empirical Study from the Perspective of Self-Determination Theory and Perceived Control

School of Education, Huaibei Normal University, Huaibei 235000, China
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Behav. Sci. 2022, 12(11), 440; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs12110440
Submission received: 4 October 2022 / Revised: 7 November 2022 / Accepted: 8 November 2022 / Published: 10 November 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current and Future Trends in Personality Psychology)

Abstract

Compared to non-perfectionists, perfectionists may not be satisfied with the growing needs in their lives to the same extent. To test whether perfectionists are dissatisfied with their lives, we investigated whether trait perfectionism attenuates the relationship between basic psychological needs, perceived control, and life satisfaction. A total of 574 college students self-reported basic psychological needs, perceived control, life satisfaction, and perfectionistic strivings and concerns, with a mean age of 19.53 (SD = 1.61), including 299 women and 275 men. A correlation analysis showed that perfectionistic strivings were significantly positively related to life satisfaction, while perfectionistic concerns were significantly negatively related to life satisfaction. The moderation analysis showed that perfectionistic strivings not only moderated the relationship between basic psychological needs and life satisfaction but also moderated the relationship between perceived control and life satisfaction. Individuals with high perfectionistic strivings generally reported high levels of life satisfaction. Perfectionistic strivings, however, reduced the positive relationship between perceived control and life satisfaction. Perfectionistic concerns moderated the relationship between perceived control and life satisfaction—the higher the perfectionistic concerns, the weaker the positive relationship between perceived control and life satisfaction. The study found that individuals with high perfectionistic tendencies are not always dissatisfied with life, but that perfectionism weakens the relationship between basic psychological needs, perceived control, and life satisfaction. We argue that one way to improve happiness is by coaching individuals who are highly perfectionistic to become self-aware of their personality so both their perfectionistic strivings and concerns are more coherent with their values and goals or character.
Keywords: perfectionism; perceived control; life satisfaction; basic psychological needs; self-determination theory perfectionism; perceived control; life satisfaction; basic psychological needs; self-determination theory

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MDPI and ACS Style

Liu, Q.; Zhao, X.; Liu, W. Are Perfectionists Always Dissatisfied with Life? An Empirical Study from the Perspective of Self-Determination Theory and Perceived Control. Behav. Sci. 2022, 12, 440. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs12110440

AMA Style

Liu Q, Zhao X, Liu W. Are Perfectionists Always Dissatisfied with Life? An Empirical Study from the Perspective of Self-Determination Theory and Perceived Control. Behavioral Sciences. 2022; 12(11):440. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs12110440

Chicago/Turabian Style

Liu, Qipeng, Xiaoyun Zhao, and Weidi Liu. 2022. "Are Perfectionists Always Dissatisfied with Life? An Empirical Study from the Perspective of Self-Determination Theory and Perceived Control" Behavioral Sciences 12, no. 11: 440. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs12110440

APA Style

Liu, Q., Zhao, X., & Liu, W. (2022). Are Perfectionists Always Dissatisfied with Life? An Empirical Study from the Perspective of Self-Determination Theory and Perceived Control. Behavioral Sciences, 12(11), 440. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs12110440

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