Parental/Social Influences on Perfectionism and Adult Attachment Orientations

We developed and tested a model for predicting insecure adult attachment orientations that includes indexes of parental expectations and criticism along with measures of adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism. Parental and social performance expectations were significant predictors of adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism. Maladaptive perfectionism was found to fully mediate associations involving parental and other social performance expectations and our indices of adult attachment orientation. Adaptive perfectionism, though significantly associated with adult attachment orientations, was not found to mediate this relationship. Moderator effects also were found between the different forms of parental and social influences in their prediction of adult attachment orientations, with parental criticism emerging as a key enhancing negative factor. Results position perfectionism as a personality characteristic that develops in part from parental relational influences and that holds implications for current adult relationships.