Socially prescribed perfectionism: Moderating the relationship between shyness and other-efficacy discrepancy

Cognitive social anxiety theories contend that shy people feel incapable of meeting social performance standards set by themselves and others (Bandura, 1986; Carver & Scheier, 1986), and have low social self-efficacy and negative self-appraisals (Wallace & Alden, 1991). The discrepancy between social self-efficacy and perceptions of others' standards for one's social behavior may influence how one approaches interactions. The greater this discrepancy, the more one may anticipate failure and avoid interaction. Although it seems logical that people higher on shyness would suffer from greater discrepancies, results have been mixed. Shyness is correlated with low social self-efficacy, but shy people do not necessarily endorse higher personal standards, or perceive others to hold higher standards for them (Jackson, Towson, & Narduzzi, 1997; Wallace & Alden, 1991).; This study tested whether socially prescribed perfectionism moderates the effect of shyness on other-efficacy discrepancy. Socially prescribed perfectionism is correlated with perceptions that other people's standards for oneself are unrealistically high (Hewitt & Flett, 1991), and it likely manifests itself differently in the self-appraisal process depending on the presence of shyness.; Sixty-eight college students completed measures of perfectionism (MPS) and shyness (SIAS). They were told that they would interact briefly with a stranger of the opposite sex. Participants used a Visual Rating Scale (Wallace & Alden, 1991) to complete a measure of predicted social abilities and others' expectations for them in the upcoming interaction (SEI). They completed the SISST to assess anticipatory self-statements. Participants did not actually meet a stranger; the anticipation of an interaction was thought to be enough to evaluate the variables of interest.; Regression analyses suggested that socially prescribed perfectionism is a moderator, strengthening the relationship between shyness and other-efficacy discrepancy. It significantly increased the association between shyness and negative self-statements. The greater a participant's shyness, the greater (p < .01) his/her negative self-talk when s/he was high on socially prescribed perfectionism. Perfectionism did not moderate the link between shyness and positive self-statements, but a significant main effect indicated that highly shy participants endorsed more positive self-statements than did people lower on shyness.