Effects of Multidimensional Perfectionism, Self-esteem, and Interpersonal Competence on University Students’ Psychological Well-being

Objectives This study investigated university students’ multidimensional perfectionism, self-esteem, interpersonal competence, and psychological well-being, and their correlations, and the effects of multidimensional perfectionism, self-esteem, and interpersonal competence on their psychological well-being. Methods A total of 207 students, ranging from first to fourth year, participated in the study. Tests were conducted to measure their multidimensional perfectionism, self-esteem, interpersonal competence, and psychological well-being. The collected quantitative data were first analyzed using descriptive statistics for all four areas. Then Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to examine the correlations among the overall areas and the detailed correlations among the sub-factors. To determine the effects of the independent variables on the dependent variable, stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed. Results First, descriptive statistical analysis revealed that the levels of multidimensional perfectionism, self-esteem, interpersonal competence, and psychological well-being perceived by the participating students were in order of self-esteem, interpersonal competence, psychological well-being, and multidimensional perfectionism. Second, Pearson correlation analysis found that, with the exception of multidimensional perfectionism, there were significant positive correlations among the three areas of self-esteem, interpersonal competence, and psychological well-being. Among these, self-esteem and psychological well-being showed the highest correlation. Third, among the three independent variables, self-esteem was found to have the greatest impact on psychological well-being, accounting for 53.4%, and interpersonal competence 6.8%. Conclusions The results of the study promote our understanding of university students’ multidimensional perfectionism, self-esteem, interpersonal competence, and psychological well-being. They also provide pedagogical implications that universities should highlight the importance of self-esteem and interpersonal competence as significant factors influencing students' psychological well-being, and that support is warranted for educational programs to cultivate them.