A Latent Mediated Moderation of Perfectionism, Motivation, and Academic Satisfaction: Advancing the 2 x 2 Model of Perfectionism Through Substantive-Methodological Synergy

The 2 x 2 model of perfectionism conceptualizes perfectionism as the within-person combinations of self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism to define four subtypes of perfectionism. This model posits that each subtype is distinctively associated with self-determined motivation and psychological adjustment. Results of latent moderated structural equation model with data from a sample of 559 university students with our newly developed MPLUS syntax codes to estimate simple slopes and their statistical significance supported this hypothesis. As expected, pure self-oriented perfectionism was associated with higher academic self-determination and academic satisfaction relative to mixed perfectionism. Mixed perfectionism was also associated with higher academic self-determination and satisfaction than was pure socially prescribed perfectionism. Results of a latent mediated moderation structural equation model also showed that academic self-determined motivation significantly mediated the relationships between perfectionism subtypes and academic satisfaction. The indirect effects of the four simple slopes, tested with our newly developed MPLUS syntax codes, all reached statistical significance. On substantive grounds, the different amounts of autonomy or self-determination associated with each of the four subtypes of perfectionism of the 2 x 2 model explicate why they are distinctively associated with academic satisfaction. On methodological grounds, this study offered a roadmap to examine the hypotheses of the 2 x 2 model of perfectionism with latent moderated structural equation modeling.