Document Type : Research/Original/Regular

Authors

• Seyed Mojtaba Aghili ¹
• Maryam Nodehi ²

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, GorganPayame Noor University,Golestan, Iran

² Master of Psychology, Sarvieh Non-Profit School, Mazandaran, Iran.

Abstract

The family is the smallest social unit. Its stability or instability affects family members and society, and the collapse of this small unit has a profound effect on children. The aim of this study was to compare the types of perfectionism with personality traits in students of divorced families and other students. The research method was descriptive and comparative analytical. The statistical population of the study was two groups of children of divorce and other children living in Gorgan in 2020-2021 that 200 students (100 children of divorce and 100 other children) were selected by available sampling method and voluntarily to participate in the study as a sample. Measurement tools included Perfectionism Questionnaire (Frost) and Personality Traits Questionnaire (Neo). Data analysis methods included descriptive methods and Pearson correlation method. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the two groups of children of divorce and other children in the subscales of worry about mistakes, parental expectations, parental criticism, and neuroticism. But there was no significant difference between conscientiousness, pleasantness and extraversion between the two groups. The results showed high scores of neuroticism and perfectionism in children of divorce compared to other children. The implications of the result are discussed in the article.

Highlights

Background & Purpose

Despite all intervention attempts, many children are affected by parental divorce (Abbaspour et al., 2021). It appears that for a society to be secure, healthy families are vital (Surak, 2020). In fact, a healthy family consists of members with strong mental health and positive relationships (Kranz et al., 2021). As a result, family members' health and relationships will have a good impact on society (Rashadi et al., 2019). The rising divorce rate, as well as the resulting trauma, emphasizes the importance of effective interventions for children who have been affected by the event. Varied research has shown that children of divorce are present in the majority of societal harms, and psychological investigations have validated the various consequences of divorce on these people's mental health (Yahyazadeh and Hamed, 2015). The study of essential dimensions such as perfectionism as one of the personality aspects of female adolescents, which arises from her high and excessive expectations of herself or others, and its absence can affect their failure in the future of marriage and divorce, is one of the essential issues in this field ( Moradi and Akhani, 2019). Research on the effects of divorce or defects in family structure has addressed only a portion of the problems that children face as a result of their parent's divorce. The study of multiple and comprehensive disorders on a single sample is highlighted as a research gap since the disorders may vary from sample to sample. In other words, past studies on parental divorce's impacts on children have focused on one or a small number of disorders, while studies on the other effects of parental divorce on children are scarce. This study was conducted to examine the types of perfectionism with personality qualities among students from divorced families and other students in Gorgan.

Method

The present study is descriptive and post-event in which the variables of perfectionism, and personality traits in two groups of divorce students and other students are compared. The statistical population of this study was all female students aged 16 to 17 years, in secondary schools in the second period of Gorgan Regionion 2 in the academic year 2021-2020. Among them, 200 female students were selected using the cluster random sampling method.

Results

After examining the assumptions of analysis of variance, the test results The results of the effect tests between the participants of the two groups are presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Results of effect tests between participants of the two groups (children of divorce and other children)

According to the results presented in Table, there is a significant difference between the groups in terms of perfectionism (P<.05), Eta coefficient (.277). This is true for all variables, which means that the research variables differ significantly between the two groups of divorced children and other children.

Discussion and conclusion

The present study revealed a significant difference between children of divorce and other children on the variable of perfectionism. This means that children of divorce scored higher than other children on the dimensions of perfectionism, including worry about mistakes, parental expectations, and parental criticism. The conclusions of this study are consistent with the findings of Turkmen and Moradi (2020), Moradi and Akhani (2019), and Hey et al. (2020) studies. In order to explain these findings, it is possible to say that children of divorce believe that mistakes diminish their control. Therefore, they must be perfect in everything they do. In the absence of this perfection, the dread of making mistakes becomes stronger, leading to greater anxiety, which limits productivity and increases the risk of making new mistakes. When things do not go as planned, anxious individuals may experience loss. Thus, they score highly on elements of perfectionism, such as mistake sensitivity (Besharat et al., 1399). Neuroticism is the propensity for anxiety, stress, compassion-seeking, hostility, impulsivity, depression, and low self-esteem. Children of divorce whose neurotic tendency is more prominent than other personality qualities typically have better overall health. These neurotic children interpret, draw conclusions, and act negatively on what they have or what is going on around them; as a result, such tendencies can limit or harm their social interactions, as well as hinder self-actualization and its contexts. In this instance, the individual is deprived of suitable conditions for growth and development, and as a result, overall health is harmed (Dastjerdi et al., 2011).

Ethical considerations

Compliance with ethical guidelines: All participants in the study expressed informed consent..

Funding: The study was conducted at the personal expense of researchers.

Authors’ Contribution: The first author in this research is the supervisor and the second author is the data analyst.

 Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgment: The authors would like to thank all the researchers who had valuable studies in this field and were used in this research, as well as the relevant organizations that were active in the field of security, especially the security of women.

Keywords

• perfectionism
• personality traits
• children of divorce

20.1001.1.23452692.1402.11.1.2.8

Main Subjects

• Woman and family