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Highlights: [•] We investigated stress responses to two conditions of varying situational demand. [•] Analyses revealed that perfectionism moderates the affective stress response. [•] Situational effects depend on levels of perfectionistic strivings and concerns. [•] Perfectionism-specific effects depend on objective situational demand. [•] Incremental validity of perfectionism over neuroticism was supported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers exert considerable time, energy, and financial resources toward achieving weight and body shape goals. However, weight management behaviors often become maladaptive (i.e., more harmful than helpful) and lead to increased chances for negative mental and physical results. An online panel (n = 412; M age = 45.49; SD age = 16.64; 61.4% female) was surveyed to assess how implicit mindset moderates the relationship between perfectionistic concern (self-criticism when the self is perceived to fall short of valued standards), perfectionistic striving (insistence on pursuing and achieving excessively high performance standards), and maladaptive weight management behaviors. This pre-registered study demonstrates that consumers high on perfectionistic concern who also hold a more growth implicit mindset engage in more maladaptive behavior; consumers who hold a more fixed implicit mindset engage in less maladaptive behavior regardless of their perfectionism. Importantly, our results indicate that high perfectionistic striving acts as an amplifier, enhancing implicit mindset's moderation of the relationship between perfectionistic concern and maladaptive behavior. We further demonstrate that this effect is most pronounced for maladaptive weight management behaviors which require greater persistence, such as cognitive restraint, excessive exercise, and muscle building. Implications for research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perfectionistic concerns about the discrepancy between one's standards and performance are associated with several problematic interpersonal and emotional outcomes. The degree to which discrepancy as a form of perfectionism, as well as personal standards as a form of perfectionism, relate to one's willingness to talk about one's distress to others have been underexplored. Our study examined the association between perfectionism and distress disclosure tendencies and also anticipated disclosure in response to several stressful, hypothetical events. College students (N = 325) completed measures via an online survey. Regression analyses revealed that discrepancy (but not personal standards) was negatively related to distress disclosure tendencies. Multilevel modeling indicated that discrepancy was associated with lower anticipated disclosure of negative, hypothetical events, but discrepancy did not interact with the intensity of the event. This research provides novel findings concerning the association between discrepancy and emotional disclosure, and it suggests that personal standards has a minimal role in the disclosure of distress. • We examined the relation between perfectionism and disclosure of distress. • Discrepancy (between standards and performance) was associated with lower distress disclosure tendencies. • Discrepancy was also associated with lower anticipated disclosure of hypothetical events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]