Perceived Parental Relationship Behaviors, Dyadic Perfectionism in Romantic Relationships and Relationship Quality Among College Students

Romantic relationship quality is affected by a number of individual and environmental factors. In evaluation process of romantic relationship, individual’s criteria and the resources that create these criteria have great importance as well. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the correlations among perceived parental relationship behaviors, dyadic perfectionism in romantic relationships, and relationship quality. The research sample comprised 246 students who studied in different departments at Trabzon University and had a romantic relationship at that time. As a result of the analysis, significant correlations were found between the perceived parental relationship behaviors and dyadic perfectionism in romantic relationships, and relationship quality. In addition, it was determined that order and social support scores of females were significantly higher than males. In line with the results, the previous studies reveal that negative patterns between parents and perfectionistic tendencies in relationships negatively affect romantic relationships.

Preregistered replication of Stoeber (2012): Dyadic perfectionism in romantic relationships

The present study reports a preregistered replication of a study by Stoeber (2012) investigating the relationships between dyadic perfectionism, relationship satisfaction and longterm commitment. Our study included 71 couples in a dyadic design that measured actor and partner effects using multilevel regression analyses. The findings were mixed: We were able to reproduce some of the relationships reported by Stoeber, some failed to reproduce, and some new relationships were found. Participants who perceived that their partners had perfectionistic expectations of them did tend to report lower relationship satisfaction and longterm commitment. However, there was no evidence of a relationship between the degree to which participants self-reported having perfectionistic standards towards their partners and their partners’ relationship satisfaction and longterm commitment.

Child-oriented and partner-oriented perfectionism explain different aspects of family difficulties

Objective: The aim of the present study was to verify the relationship between partner-oriented and children-oriented perfectionism, and their associations with narcissism and with difficulties in the romantic and parental domains. Differences between women and men were also analyzed.Method: 459 individuals participated, 264 women and 195 men (Mage = 33.88, SD = 4.39). All participants were Polish, had at least one child and were in a romantic relationship. In this cross-sectional, questionnaire study the Dyadic Almost Perfect Scale was applied along with its new adaptation, developed to measure children-oriented perfectionism: the Children Dyadic Almost Perfect Scale.Results: Partner dyadic perfectionism and children dyadic perfectionism, both in women and in men, were related to each other and positively correlated with narcissism. Partner-oriented perfectionism turned out to be a specific predictor of difficulties in the romantic relation, whereas children-oriented perfectionism was found to be a predictor of difficulties in the parental relation.Conclusion: The results suggest that studies on dyadic perfectionism should take into consideration concrete individuals at whom perfectionistic expectations are directed (e.g., partner and children). This will enable a more precise investigation of the influence of perfectionism on family life and a better understanding of the social consequences of other-oriented perfectionism.