PERFECTIONISTIC SELF PRESENTATION AS A PREDICTOR OF ANXIETY SENSITIVITY AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship between perfectionist self presentation (perfectionist self promotion, non-display of imperfection, nondisclosure of imperfection) and anxiety sensitivity among university students. A total of276 participants comprising 118 male and 158 female undergraduate students participated in the study. They werebetween the age range of 19 – 26 with a mean age of 21.47 and a standard deviation of 1.64. They were selectedmaking use of available sample technique from the population of students from the Faculty of Management Sciencesand Faculty of Law, Enugu State University of Science and Technology. A 27-item Perfectionist Self-PresentationScale (PSPS; Hewitt et al., 2003) that assesses the stylistic personality trait which is associated with a need toappear perfect to others and 18-item Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (Taylor et al., 2007) designed to assess the fear ofanxiety-related sensations and their consequences were used in the study. Correlational design was adopted for thestudy while Hierarchical Multiple Regression statistics result showed that perfectionist self presentation (perfectionistself promotion, PSP; non-display of imperfection, NDP; nondisclosure of imperfection, NDC) significantly predictedanxiety sensitivity (PSP, r = .95, P < .01, r 2 = .90; NDP, r = .91, P < .01, r 2 = .83; NDC, r = .88, P < .01, r 2 = .77). Thefindings were discussed in view of literature reviewed and recommendations were made.Key words: Perfectionist, Self Presentation, Anxiety, Sensitivity, Imperfection