title: The role of perfectionism in daily self-esteem, attachment, and negative affect.
abstract: This study of university students (64 men, 99 women) examined the role of self-critical (SC) and personal standards (PS) higher order dimensions of perfectionism in daily self-esteem, attachment, and negative affect. Participants completed questionnaires at the end of the day for 7 consecutive days. Trait and situational influences were found in the daily reports of self-esteem, attachment, and affect. In contrast to PS perfectionism, SC perfectionism was strongly related to aggregated daily reports of low self-esteem, attachment fears (fear of closeness, fear of dependency, fear of loss), and negative affect as well as instability indexes of daily self-esteem, attachment, and negative affect. Multilevel modeling indicated that both SC and PS perfectionists were emotionally reactive to decreases in self-esteem, whereas only SC perfectionists were emotionally reactive to increases in fear of closeness with others. These results demonstrate the dispositional and moderating influences of perfectionism dimensions on daily self-esteem, attachment, and negative affect.
authors.affiliation: Lady Davis Institute, SMBD Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. david.dunkley@mcgill.ca
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Dunkley
authors.forename: Jody-Lynn
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Zuroff
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000339:Affect; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009769:Object Attachment; D010551:Personality; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult