This master's thesis examines the levels of perfectionism, anxiety and test anxiety in ninth
grade students and their mutual relationships. In this context, the main research aim was to
examine how different levels of (mal)adaptive perfectionism and anxiety influence academic
achievement of students.
The theoretical basis discusses presented phenomena in more detail, focusing on their
characteristics, developmental factors, components, and indicators. This is followed by an
analysis of the relationships between adaptive and maladaptive perfectionist tendencies in
connection with general and test anxiety. The final part addresses the impact these phenomena
may have on academic achievement of adolescents.
The empirical part presents the results of a quantitative study conducted among 115 ninth-grade
students from three different primary schools. Data were collected using three questionnaires.
The findings showed that most students expressed mid-range levels of perfectionism, anxiety,
and test anxiety, with tension emerging as the most strongly expressed component of test
anxiety. Furthermore, the study examined whether statistically significant differences exist in
the expression of these phenomena according to gender. Despite girls generally expressing
higher levels of all mentioned traits, statistically significant gender differences were found only
in test anxiety. Additional analyses revealed that ninth-grade students expressed higher levels
of adaptive than maladaptive perfectionism.
We further examined whether the levels of general and test anxiety differed depending on levels
of (mal)adaptive perfectionism. The results confirmed statistically significant associations
between both perfectionism dimensions and (test) anxiety, with the exception of the relationship
between adaptive perfectionism and test anxiety. It was found that maladaptive perfectionism
is positively associated with both forms of anxiety, while adaptive perfectionism showed a
negative relationship. Finally, a statistically significant link was confirmed between levels of
(mal)adaptive perfectionism and anxiety with academic achievement. Students with higher
levels of maladaptive perfectionism and anxiety achieved lower academic success, whereas
those with higher levels of adaptive perfectionism and lower anxiety showed better academic
results. The results of the study can contribute to greater awareness among professionals in
recognizing the association between (mal)adaptive perfectionism and anxiety with academic
achievement.
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