Self-critical perfectionism mediates the relationship between self-esteem and satisfaction with life in Lebanese university students

Abstract

Background The psychological mechanisms that underlie the relationship between self-esteem and life satisfaction remain unclear and not well-understood. We sought through the present study to test the hypothesis that perfectionism plays a significant mediating role in the association between self-esteem and satisfaction with life among Lebanese university students. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed in a sample of 363 students (61.7% females, mean age = 22.65 ± 3.48 years). Three research instruments were used: satisfaction with life scale, Rosenberg self-esteem scale and big three perfectionism scale. Results Higher self-esteem was significantly associated with lower self-critical perfectionism (Beta = − 0.47), whereas higher self-critical perfectionism was significantly associated with lower satisfaction in life (Beta = − 0.29). Finally, higher self-esteem was significantly and directly associated with higher satisfaction with life (Beta = 0.48). Conclusion The present preliminary findings point to the role of self-critical perfectionism as a buffer between self-esteem and satisfaction with life, suggesting the roles of self-esteem and perfectionism as promising avenues for promoting satisfaction with life in adolescent students.

Psychometric properties of an Arabic translation of the Big Three Perfectionism Scale–Short Form (BTPS-SF) in a community sample of adults

“…Strong meta-analytic evidence drawn from longitudinal studies [ 12 , 69 ] and meta-synthesis of qualitative studies [ 70 ] concluded that the multidimensional perfectionism serves as a risk factor for depressive and anxiety symptoms. As for findings on self-critical perfectionism, they concur with those of previous studies [ 48 , 67 , 71 ], suggesting this component as a critical factor in the prediction of psychopathology.…”

“…Higher scores reflect higher perfectionism in the three aspects. We used the Arabic version of the scale, which was previously used [ 53 ].…”

The use of social media: the mediating effect of the number of followers on the relationship between life satisfaction and user's self-esteem

“…In the studies by Romdhane et al (2023) and Szczesniak et al (2022), a positive and significant association between life satisfaction and self-esteem was observed. This type of association was also found in the study by Bozoglan et al (2013).…”

“…Despite several studies showing that life satisfaction has a positive relationship with self-esteem (Bozoglan et al, 2013;Romdhane et al, 2023;Szczesniak et al, 2022), when attempting to understand interaction effects between self-esteem and participants' sociodemographic characteristics (gender versus self-esteem and age versus self-esteem) regarding their life satisfaction, these effects disappear. This may be justified by the fact that levels of life satisfaction and self-esteem vary from men to women and across different ages (Moksnes & Espnes, 2013).…”

Self-esteem and family satisfaction as predictors of life satisfaction in Peruvian highland university students

“…Additionally, it is important to understand the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on family dynamics (Martin-Storey et al, 2021) and academic programs on the mental health and well-being of college students (Lemyre et al, 2023). Therefore, university students should consider the effects of self-esteem and family satisfaction in order to improve their skills and expand their social roles (Fekih-Romdhane et al, 2023), understanding that self-esteem is strongly related to health (Karaca et al, 2019), academic performance (Zheng et al, 2020) and life satisfaction (Lau et al, 2020). In this sense, university authorities should incorporate awareness programs into the curriculum on the importance of proper self-esteem and adequate family satisfaction (Reić Ercegovac et al, 2021).…”