Gender, perfectionism, and long-term goals in adolescents

As reported in the scientific literature, many variables affecting the development of individuals have been studied. Among them is perfectionism, understood as the tendency to set high standards of performance, or grit, defined as perseverance in achieving long-term goals. The aim of this work is to study the relationship between both variables and to analyse possible gender differences. For this purpose, a sample of 246 adolescents from seven secondary schools in Tenerife, Canary Islands, was used. The instruments used were the Escala Grit de Oviedo and the Child and Adolescent Perfectionism Scale to measure grit and perfectionism, respectively. Two open-ended questions were also added to obtain information on the knowledge of both constructs. A multiple linear regression was performed for the quantitative analysis, which showed a low but significant relationship between variables, being positive with self-oriented perfectionism and negative with socially prescribed perfectionism. In addition, to check the possible existence of gender differences in both variables, two contrasts were carried out, although the results were no significant. The ALCESTE programme was used for the qualitative analysis. It was possible to observe a similarity in the answers given by adolescent boys and girls, thus showing an absence of gender differences in the two constructs studied.