Explaining the Link between Perfectionism and Self-Forgiveness: The Mediating Roles of Unconditional Self-Acceptance and Rumination
Author(s): Lee J. Dixon, Katherine A. Earl, Catherine J. Lutz-Zois, Jackson A. Goodnight, Jessica J. Peatee
Abstract: Although recent research has begun to examine correlates of self-forgiveness, very little research has examined the association between self-forgiveness and perfectionism. This study examined this association, along with mediating mechanisms that help explain this association. Specifically, we examined the indirect relationships between both Conscientious and Self-Evaluative forms of perfectionism and episodic self-forgiveness, through both unconditional self-acceptance and rumination. Participants (N = 206) completed measures of perfectionism, unconditional self-acceptance, rumination about a specific betrayal they committed, and self-forgiveness of said betrayal. Multivariate path analyses revealed Self-Evaluative Perfectionism to be indirectly associated with self-forgiveness, through both unconditional self-acceptance and rumination. More specifically, Self-Evaluative Perfectionism was positively and significantly related to rumination and negatively and significantly related to self-acceptance; in turn, rumination was negatively and significantly related to self-forgiveness and self-acceptance was positively and significantly related to self-forgiveness. Conscientious Perfectionism was not significantly related to the mediators or indirectly associated with self-forgiveness.
Keywords: Perfectionism; Forgiveness; Self-acceptance; Rumination; Self-evaluation; Multivariate analysis
Pages: 101-111
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