In my master's thesis, I investigated the relationship between adaptive (organization and
personal standards) and maladaptive dimensions of perfectionism (parental expectations,
parental criticism, doubts about actions, and concerns about mistakes) and cognitive test
anxiety in university students. I was interested in examining the mediating role of coping styles
in this relationship. I was also interested in whether neuroticism as one of the elementary
personality traits moderates an indirect effect of the maladaptive perfectionism dimensions
on both coping styles. The sample consisted of 307 students from different disciplines and
degree programs who completed the Cognitive Test Anxiety Scale, the Frost Multidimensional
Perfectionism Scale, the Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory, and the Big
Five Inventory. To assess the mediating role of stress coping styles and the moderating role of
neuroticism, I conducted a parallel mediator analysis and a conditional process or moderated
mediation analysis. The results show that organization has only a negative mediating effect
across both coping styles on cognitive test anxiety, such that organization positively predicts
a problem-focused coping style, which predicts lower cognitive test anxiety, and negatively
predicts an avoidance-focused coping style, which predicts higher cognitive test anxiety. The
effect of the coping style that focuses on avoidance is stronger. Personal standards, concern
over mistakes, and parental criticism have positive direct and indirect, and parental
expectations have negative indirect effect on cognitive test anxiety through an avoidance-
oriented coping style. Doubts about action only have a positive direct effect on cognitive test
anxiety. Neuroticism was not proven as a moderator of the indirect effect in the model with
maladaptive dimensions of perfectionism. The results have theoretical and practical
implications. From a theoretical perspective, the results contribute to a deeper understanding
of the classification of perfectionism into positive and negative dimensions and to an
understanding of perfectionism as a behavior that aims to achieve positive consequences but
avoid negative ones. The results could also provide a theoretical starting point for the
development of suitable interventions for coping with test anxiety.
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