2009 Volume 12 Issue 2 Pages 61-70
The purpose of this study was to develop a perfectionism scale for university students and to investigate the relations among perfectionism, self-efficacy for group adaptation, and mental health of university students. The subjects were 240 university students (male=82, female=158, mean age=19.79, SD=1.07). They were asked to answer a set of questionnaires including a face sheet, Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale for University Students (MPSUS) which was developed in this study, Self-efficacy for Group Adaptation Scale (Gushiken et al., 2007), and the Mental Health Pattern (MHP-1; Hashimoto et al., 2000). The results of exploratory factor analysis revealed a 5-factor solution with 25 items of the MPSUS. Each of the factors demonstrated acceptable internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha reliability values ranging from 0.772 to 0.854. A confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the structural validity of the MPSUS showed acceptable fit indices (GFI=0.907, AGFI=0.877, CFI=0.971, RMSEA=0.036). Covariance Structure Analysis revealed that Self-efficacy for Group Adaptation was negatively associated with Mental Health Pattern but "Afraid of Mistakes" was directly and positively associated with the Mental Health Pattern. On the other hand, "Objective Evaluation" and "Higher Purposes" are significantly associated with Mental Health Pattern indirectly through Self-efficacy for Group Adaptation. The results suggested that the reliability and the structural validity of the MPSUS as a scale for assessing Japanese university students' perfectionism was statistically satisfied. The result of covariance structure analysis revealed that pass coefficients among each of the scales indicated higher perfectionism negatively influenced university students' mental health directly. On the other hand, self-efficacy for group adaptation moderates the negative effect between perfectionism and mental health. In future research, effective methods of psychological and educational intervention should be considered in order to enhance self-efficacy for group adaptation.
