Maladaptive perfectionism and cognitive test anxiety in Brazilian undergraduates: The role of sex and age
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31211/rpics.2025.11.1.368Keywords:
Cognitive test anxiety, Maladaptive perfectionism, Undergraduate students, Sex differences, Cross-sectional studyAbstract
Aim: This study investigated the extent to which maladaptive perfectionism predicts cognitive test anxiety, while controlling for the effects of sex and age, in undergraduate students from the inland region of Piauí, Brazil. Method: A total of 224 undergraduate students from the city of Piripiri, Piauí (Mage = 24.48; SD = 6.14) participated in the study. Most were female (77.7%), enrolled in public institutions (70.1%), and mainly pursuing degrees in Pedagogy (37.6%), Chemistry (11.6%), and Law (8.9%). Participants completed the short version of the Almost Perfect Scale, the Cognitive Test Anxiety Scale, and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Results: Hierarchical multiple linear regression indicated that maladaptive perfectionism (β = 0.56; p < .001) and sex (β = -0.20; p < .001) were significant predictors of cognitive test anxiety, accounting for approximately 39% of the total variance. Conclusions: The results suggest that higher levels of maladaptive perfectionism are significantly associated with increased cognitive anxiety in evaluative contexts, particularly among female students. These findings highlight the need for future research exploring the underlying mechanisms of this association in university populations.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Paulo Gregório Nascimento Nascimento da Silva, Lívia Maria Gonçalves Leal Dantas , Thiago Coutinho Freitas de Oliveira , Ana Maria Gomes Barbosa, Ana Carolina Martins Monteiro Silva, Tiago Geraldo de Azevedo , Emerson Diógenes de Medeiros, Marco Antônio silva Alvarenga
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