The mediating role of physical appearance perfectionism in determining the causal relationship between perceived pressures and perception of appearance

This study aimed to examine how perceived pressures impact the perception of appearance, with physical appearance perfectionism acting as a mediator. A total of 310 adults (Mage = 30.69, SD = 10.3 years), including 150 women and 160 men aged 18-60 years, participated in this cross-sectional study. The path analysis was conducted to test the mediating role of physical appearance perfectionism in the relationship between the perception of appearance and perceived pressures related to appearance. We modeled the influence of perceived pressures related to appearance on the perception of appearance through worry about imperfection regarding their physical appearance. The resulting model achieved an excellent fit. The full mediating effect of the worry about imperfection in predicting the perception of appearance with perceived pressures was significant (p < .001). Perceived pressure from peers/significant others and the media positively and significantly predicted the worry about imperfection (path coefficient = 0.277, p < .007; path coefficient = 0.163, p < .00, respectively). The worry about imperfection significantly contributes to the negative perception of appearance (path coefficient = -0.38, p < .001). As a result, worry about imperfection regarding physical appearance was determined as a mediator between perceived pressures related to physical appearance and perception of appearance.