A Comparison of the Perfectionism and Social Desirability Levels in the Context of the Azerbaijani and Turkish Youth

As social beings, humans seek approval and recognition from society. In this context, the study aims to examine the relationship between the social desirability and perfectionism levels, referred to "the need to behave in a culturally approved way,” by comparing them from a cultural perspective. A total of 214 participants, including 105 Azerbaijanis and 109 Turks aged 18-30, were reached. “Socio-Demographic Information Form”, "Marlow-Crowne Social Desirability Scale Short Form C (SD SF-C)," and "Big Three Perfectionism Scale-Short Form (BTPS-SF)" were implemented. The results indicated that the Azerbaijani and Turkish youth exhibit moderate levels of perfectionism, with self-critical perfectionism being dominant in both of the samples. There was no significant difference between the perfectionism and social desirability levels of these two groups, but the Azerbaijani youth scored higher in the social-behavioral sub-dimension of SD SF-C. In terms of sex, the males in Azerbaijan showed higher narcissistic perfectionism while the females in Türkiye showed higher self-critical perfectionism. A significant and weakly negative linear correlational relationship was found between these two variables. These findings reveal that the youth of Türkiye and Azerbaijan share similar characteristics, as reflected in the motto “one nation, two states”.