Mediating effect of goal adjustment on the relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism and academic burnout

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism, goal adjustment, and academic burnout. A total of 279 undergraduate students completed an online survey. Structural equation modeling was conducted to examine the mediating effect of goal adjustment on the relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism and academic burnout. The results showed that socially prescribed perfectionism was unrelated to goal disengagement; however, goal reengagement mediated the positive relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism and academic burnout. In other words, higher levels of socially prescribed perfectionism predicted lower levels of goal reengagement; conversely, lower levels of goal reengagement predicted higher levels of academic burnout. The implications of these findings and the limitations of the present study are discussed.