Temperament Characteristics, Cognitive Flexibility and Multidimensional Perfectionism among Adolescents

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the temperament characteristics, cognitive flexibility, and multidimensional perfectionism among adolescents. A correlational research method was used to examine the relationship among variables and a sample of 340 school students was selected from different low-cost private schools. The participants were aged between 13 and 18 years. The convenience sampling technique was used to collect the sample. Urdu versions of the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire Revised (EATQ-R), Cognitive Flexibility Inventory (CFI), and Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R) were used to measure all the variables. Results through statistical analysis revealed that Adaptive perfectionism was positively correlated with cognitive flexibility, activation control, affiliation, attention, pleasure sensitivity, and perceptual sensitivity and negatively correlated with aggression. Maladaptive perfectionism was positively correlated with aggression and negatively correlated with activation control. Cognitive flexibility was positively correlated with pleasure sensitivity, perceptual sensitivity, activation control, affiliation, inhibitory control, and attention. Moreover, results through mediation analysis revealed that cognitive flexibility was playing a partial mediating role between temperament characteristics and adaptive perfectionism. Results through independent t-test analysis revealed that the gender differences were found in adaptive perfectionism, maladaptive perfectionism, shyness, surgency, and activation control. The class difference was found in maladaptive perfectionism, pleasure sensitivity, activation control, and surgency. Through the results, it is concluded that temperament characteristics and adaptive perfectionism were mediated by cognitive flexibility. The results support the enhancement of cognitive flexibility and strategies for temperament improvement for adaptive perfectionism among adolescents.

Key words: Temperament Characteristics, Multidimensional Perfectionism, Cognitive Flexibility, Adolescents, School Students