The perfect storm: Exploring the impact of teaching styles on perfectionism and anxiety

• Compared to participants assigned to the authoritative or permissive teaching style conditions, participants in the authoritarian condition exhibited higher levels of perfectionism (black/white thinking, perceived pressure from others, dissatisfaction). • There was no impact of the teaching style manipulation on participants’ state anxiety (though the mediation analyses did reveal a direct association between the dummy-coded authoritarian condition and state anxiety). • There was an interaction between the teaching style condition and trait anxiety on perfectionism; participants high in trait anxiety and exposed to an experimentally manipulated authoritarian teacher had the highest levels of black/white thinking (perfectionism). • Exploratory analyses revealed that Perfectionism mediated the relationship between authoritarian teaching style and state anxiety. As perfectionism and mental health concerns become more prevalent among college students, researchers are increasingly examining factors influencing students’ psychological well-being. Teaching style has been associated with academic engagement and motivation, yet its impact on students’ perfectionism and anxiety remains understudied. The present study sought to address this gap by examining the relationships among teaching style, students’ perfectionism, and students’ anxiety. In a between-subjects design, participants ( N = 164 undergraduate students) were randomly assigned to read one of three vignettes about a college professor who exhibited one of three teaching styles (authoritarian, authoritative, or permissive) and were subsequently asked about their self-reported levels of perfectionism and anxiety. There were several key findings: (1) Both state and trait anxiety were correlated with several facets of perfectionism; (2) The teaching style manipulation impacted participants’ perfectionism in the expected direction (authoritarian > authoritative > permissive); (3) There was a significant interaction between the teaching style condition and trait anxiety on black/white thinking (one facet of perfectionism), such that for participants in the authoritarian condition, trait anxiety significantly predicted black/white thinking, but this relationship was not significant among participants in the authoritative or permissive teaching style conditions; (4) Exploratory analyses revealed that participants’ perfectionism mediated the relationship between authoritarian teaching style and state anxiety. Perfectionism also mediated the relationship between permissive teaching style and state anxiety. These results highlight the psychological impact of perceived teaching styles and underscore the potential role of instructional practices in increasing or mitigating student anxiety and perfectionism.