title: Perception matters for clinical perfectionism and social anxiety.
abstract: Despite research documenting a relationship between social anxiety and perfectionism, very little research has examined the relationship between social anxiety and clinical perfectionism, defined as the combination of high personal standards and high maladaptive perfectionistic evaluative concern. In the current studies we examined whether clinical perfectionism predicted social anxiety in a large sample of undergraduates (N=602), in a clinical sample of participants diagnosed with social anxiety disorder (SAD; N=180), and by using a variance decomposition model of self- and informant-report of perfectionism (N=134). Using self-report, we found that an interaction of personal standards and evaluative concern predicted both social interaction anxiety and fear of scrutiny, but not in the theorized direction. Specifically, we found that self-report of low standards and high evaluative concern was associated with the highest levels of social anxiety, suggesting that when individuals with SAD hold low expectations for themselves combined with high concerns about evaluation, social anxiety symptoms may increase. Alternatively, when an informants' perspective was considered, and more consistent with the original theory, we found that the interaction of informant-only report of personal standards and shared-report (between both primary participant and informant) of concern over mistakes was associated with self-reported social anxiety, such that high concern over mistakes and high personal standards predicted the highest levels of social anxiety. Theoretical, clinical, and measurement implications for clinical perfectionism are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, United States. Electronic address: Cherialevinson@wustl.edu.
authors.forename: Cheri A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Levinson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, United States.
authors.forename: Thomas L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Rodebaugh
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, United States.
authors.forename: Erik A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Shumaker
authors.affiliation: Center for Evaluation and Treatment of Anxiety, Ohio University, Athens, OH. 200 Porter Hall Athens, OH, 45701, United States. Electronic address: am855010@ohio.edu.
authors.forename: Andrew R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Menatti
authors.affiliation: Center for Evaluation and Treatment of Anxiety, Ohio University, Athens, OH. 200 Porter Hall Athens, OH, 45701, United States. Electronic address: weeksj@ohio.edu.
authors.forename: Justin W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Weeks
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas 4505 S. Maryland Parkway MS 5030 Las Vegas, NV 89154-5030, USA. Electronic address: emilykwhite@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Emily K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: White
authors.affiliation: Adult Anxiety Clinic of Temple (AACT), Department of Psychology, Temple University, Weiss Hall 1701 North 13th Street Philadelphia, PA 19122-6085, USA. Electronic address: Heimberg@temple.edu.
authors.forename: Richard G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Heimberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas 4505 S. Maryland Parkway MS 5030 Las Vegas, NV 89154-5030, USA.
authors.forename: Cortney S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.affiliation: Columbia University, Department of Psychiatry, P.O. Box 69, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032, United States. Electronic address: cb255@columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.affiliation: Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center, Research Scientist, NY State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 69, New York, NY 10032, United States. Electronic address: fschneier@nyspi.columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Franklin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schneier
authors.affiliation: Columbia University, Department of Psychiatry, P.O. Box 69, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032, United States. Electronic address: mrliebowitz@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Liebowitz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010465:Perception; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D020377:Self Efficacy; D057566:Self Report; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Clinical perfectionism; High standards; Perfectionism; Social anxiety; Social anxiety disorder