Perfectionism, envy and hypercompetitiveness among university students

Garanian N.G., Doctor in Psychology, Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Counseling & Clinical Psychology, Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Moscow, Russia, garanian@mail.ru
Klykova A.Y., student, Faculty of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Moscow, Russia, coverforalex@ya.ru
Sorokova M.G., Ph.D. in Pedagogy, PhD in Physics and Mathematics, Professor, Chair of Applied Mathematics, Faculty of Information Technology, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia, marsor@mail.ru

Annual reports of student counseling services and empirical findings demonstrate growing prevalence of student maladjustment. Perfectionism is among highly disputable factors of this tendency. A study was conducted in the sample of 226 Russian university students. Indices of perfectionism, social comparisons, envy and competitiveness were examined. Students high in perfectionism reported significantly higher levels of contrastive upward social comparisons, envy, hypercompetitiveness and depression than those low in perfectionism. Envy and social comparison orientation partially mediated a relationship between perfectionism and depression.

Keywords: perfectionism, social comparison, envy, competitiveness, student maladjustment

Column: Empirical researches

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17759/cpp.2018260202

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