Perfectionism, Irrational Beliefs, Need for Social Approval and Gender as Predictors of Parent Exam Anxiety

Abstract

Students are at the focus of exam anxiety but parents may also become an important part of this process. The purpose of the current study was to examine the role of perfectionism, irrational beliefs, need for social approval and gender as predictors of parent exam anxiety. The participants of the study were 178 parents (113 (63.48%) female and 65 (36.52%) male) living in a province in the Central Black Sea Region in Turkey. The mean age of the participants was 42.28, Sd = 5.90. Personal Information Form, Need for Social Approval Scale, Irrational Beliefs Scale, Exam Anxiety Scale for Parents and APS Perfectionism Scale were employed as the data collection tools in the study. Pearson Correlation Coefficient for the correlation of variables and Multiple Regression Analysis for the predictive power of independent variables were utilized in analyzing the data. According to the results of the research, positive perfectionism and social approval were significantly related to the parent exam anxiety, but the contributions in the regression model were found non-significant. It was also found that negative perfectionism, irrational beliefs and gender predicted 26% of parent exam anxiety. Negative perfectionism, gender and irrational beliefs contributed to the model most, respectively. Findings obtained from the research were discussed and interpreted in the direction of the literature and further suggestions were made for researchers and practitioners studying in the field of psychological counseling and guidance.