THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RIGIDITY, PERFECTIONISM AND MENTAL HEALTH

Abstract

Rigidity is one of the oldest psychological constructs to which, today, in the literature, traits such as egocentrism, authoritarianism, obsessiveness, inflexibility, and similar are associated. From the psychiatry's point of view, a rigid person is not a sick person, but a normal, healthy person with a special personality trait. The aim of this study was to determine whether rigidity as a personality trait is statistically significantly associated with perfectionism and the general state of mental health, measured through the parameters of stress, anxiety, and depression levels. The sample consisted of 212 respondents, of whom 110 were female and 102 were male. The following measuring instruments were used: Structured questionnaire for sociodemographic data (constructed for the needs of this study), Brexin's rigidity scale, Burns' perfectionism scale, Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5), Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS). The research results did not reveal a significant connection between rigidity and perfectionism and different aspects of mental health, which is not in accordance with the presented theoretical assumptions and previous researches. However, the obtained results showed that there is a difference between the examined concepts in relation to gender, whereby men show a significantly higher level of rigidity (p=.01) and perfectionism (p=.05) compared to women. Statistically significant differences were found between the level of rigidity and the variable "age" (p=.05): older respondents in the sample are more rigid in their behavior compared to younger respondents.