Perfectionism and ethnicity: implications for depressive symptoms and self-reported academic achievement.

Full Abstract

Ethnic differences in perfectionism were examined among Asian American, African American, and Caucasian American college students. Analyses revealed that Asian American students scored significantly higher than the other groups on 3 of 6 perfectionism subscales. Minority students reported significantly higher parental expectations than Caucasian students. Significant correlations emerged for all 3 groups between depressive symptoms and concerns about making mistakes, perceived criticism from parents, and self-doubt. In regression analyses, perfectionism explained significant variance in depressive symptoms for Asian Americans and Caucasians and explained significant variance in cumulative grade point average for Asian Americans and African Americans. Self-doubt emerged as a robust individual predictor in these analyses.

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Author information

Author/s: Castro, Jennifer R (JR); Rice, Kenneth G (KG);

Affiliation: Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education, Michigan State University, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology (Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2003-Feb; vol 9 (issue 1) : pp 64-78

Dates: Created 2003/03/21; Completed 2003/05/01; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12647326, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
African Americans - psychology
Analysis of Variance
Asian Americans - psychology
Depression - ethnology; physiopathology
Educational Status
European Continental Ancestry Group - psychology
Female
Goals

Humans
Male
Parent-Child Relations - ethnology
Regression Analysis
Self Concept
Social Perception
Students - psychology; statistics & numerical data
United States
Universities

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