This study examined how socially prescribed perfectionism contributes to Problematic Internet Use (PIU) among university students, focusing on the sequential mediating roles of fear of negative evaluation and academic procrastination. Data were collected from 294 students enrolled at 12 universities in South Korea. Gender, academic year, and internet use of educational and informational purpose were controlled. Results showed that socially prescribed perfectionism significantly predicted fear of negative evaluation and academic procrastination, whereas academic procrastination significantly predicted PIU. The direct path from fear of negative evaluation to PIU was not significant. Bootstrapping confirmed that the indirect effect through fear of negative evaluation alone was not significant; however, the indirect effects via academic procrastination, both alone and through the sequential path, were significant. These findings suggest that the influence of socially prescribed perfectionism on PIU operates through complex emotional and behavioral processes, highlighting the need to address both personality traits and associated psychological processes in intervention planning.
Ha et al. (Sun,) studied this question.