Is there too much school engagement? A longitudinal study on the bidirectional relations between school engagement and perfectionistic self-presentation in adolescents

Over the past decade there has been an increase in studies of adolescents' school engagement. However, fewer studies have focused on the relation between school engagement and adolescents' perfectionistic characteristics. The present four-wave longitudinal study investigates the bidirectional relations between school engagement and perfectionistic self-presentation (as an personality characteristic) in a sample of 744 adolescents (Mage = 15.2 years, SD = 1.9; 11–19 years). Cross-lagged analyses showed that behavioural engagement predicted relative decreases in adolescents' use of perfectionistic self-promotion and nondisclosure of imperfection strategies. In contrast, cognitive engagement predicted relative increases in adolescents' use of perfectionistic self-promotion, nondisplay of imperfection, and nondisclosure of imperfection strategies. Implications of the findings for the outcomes of school engagement are discussed.