The mediating role of inferiority feeling and perfectionism on the relationship between attachment and social connectedness among university students

The aim of the present study was to investigate the mediator role of inferiority feeling and perfectionism in the relationships between anxious and avoidant attachment styles and social connectedness among university students. The participants of the study consisted of 390 university students [257 females (65.9%), 133 males (34.1%)], enrolled in various undergraduate programs at Anadolu University. The data of the study was collected by Demografic Data Form, Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised, Inferiority Feeling Scale, Almost Perfect Scale-Revised, and Social Connectedness Scale-Revised adapted to Turkish in this study. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were employed to investigate mediating role of inferiority feeling and perfectionism on dimensions of attachment and social connectedness. The structural equation modeling indicated that inferiority feeling fully mediated the relationship between anxious attachment and maladaptive perfectionism, maladaptive perfectionism partially mediated the relationship between inferiority feeling and social connectedness, inferiority feeling and maladaptive perfectionism fully mediated the relationship between anxious attachment and social connectedness, adaptive perfectionism partially mediated the relationship between avoidant attachment and social connectedness. The findings of the study were discussed in line with the related literature, and some suggestions were made for practioners and further research.