Concurrent and predictive relations of multidimensional perfectionism with test anxiety in secondary school students

ABSTRACT

Background and Objectives. Perfectionism is a multidimensional personality trait often viewed as a risk factor for developing test anxiety. A recent meta-analysis showed positive correlations of perfectionism facets with test anxiety dimensions. However, all previous research into the perfectionism-test anxiety relation has been cross-sectional. Thus, it is unclear whether perfectionism facets longitudinally predict test anxiety.

Design. In this study, we investigated concurrent and predictive relations of two perfectionism facets with cognitive test anxiety (worry) and affective test anxiety (emotionality) in secondary school students (N = 478, mean age at T1 = 11.95 years). At T1, participants completed self-report measures of text anxiety and perfectionism. Almost five years later, participants again reported their test anxiety levels (T2).

Results. Concern over mistakes and doubts correlated positively with current worry and emotionality. Personal standards correlated positively with current worry. Neither concern over mistakes and doubts nor personal standards significantly predicted later test anxiety beyond baseline.

Conclusions. Perfectionism and test anxiety share common manifestations. Yet, this study raises the question whether perfectionism truly influences test anxiety development or whether other factors (e.g., construct overlap) may explain the identified cross-sectional correlations. Future research is needed to provide more nuanced insights into perfectionism-test anxiety associations.

KEYWORDS:

• Perfectionism
• test anxiety
• worry
• emotionality
• longitudinal
• secondary school

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data sharing

No permission was obtained from the participating minors or their parents to publicly share their data. The data is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This longitudinal research project was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science, Adolescence, and Culture of Rhineland-Palatinate. The funding source was not involved in decisions referring to study design, analysis, or interpretation of the data.