Perfectionism and Eating Pathology: Examining Domain Importance to Self-Worth and Self-Efficacy (2012)

Undergraduate: Maggie Riddell

Faculty Advisor: Anna Bardone-Cone
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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This study examined interactive models of perfectionism, domain importance to self-worth, and self-efficacy in predicting eating pathology. The models were tested in three domains of interest: the appearance domain, the interpersonal domain and the academic achievement domain. Both self-oriented and socially prescribed dimensions of perfectionism were investigated with high domain importance to self-worth and levels of high or low self-efficacy to combine to identify either bulimic symptoms or dietary restraint in a domain of interest. Participants completed measures of domain specific perfectionism, domain importance to self-worth, self-efficacy, bulimic symptoms, and dietary restraint at two time points eleven weeks apart (Time 1, T1 and Time 2, T2). Results revealed that high self-oriented interpersonal perfectionism, high interpersonal domain importance, and low interpersonal self-efficacy combined to predict elevated levels of bulimic symptoms, as hypothesized, as well as elevated levels of dietary restraint, contrary to the hypothesis. In this interactive model, the combination of high self-oriented perfectionism, high domain importance to self-worth, and low self-efficacy appears to be maladaptive as they combine to identify higher levels of eating pathology. Self-oriented perfectionism and the interpersonal domain emerged as two important areas requiring further investigation in the study of eating pathology.