The mediating role of self-acceptance in the relationship between perceived parent acceptance/rejection and interpersonal dependency in university students

The aim of this research was to examine the direct and indirect relationships between perceived parental rejection, self-acceptance (conditional/unconditional) and interpersonal dependence in university students, and thus to determine whether self-acceptance (conditional/unconditional) has a mediating role in the relationship between perceived parental rejection and interpersonal dependence. The study group of the research consisted of a total of 475 university students, 303 female and 172 male, aged between 17-32, studying at Çukurova University's Faculty of Education and Science and Letters in the 2021-2022 academic year. During the data collection process of the study, the Personal Information Form developed by the researcher to determine the demographic characteristics of the participants, the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Scale-Adult Short Form to measure perceived parental rejection, the Unconditional Self-Acceptance Scale to measure conditional self-acceptance and unconditional self-acceptance, and The Interpersonal Dependency Scale were used to measure interpersonal dependence. All analyzes were carried out in the Jamovi statistical program using R infrastructure and packages. Pearson Product Moments Correlation coefficients were calculated to test the relationships between the research variables. Analysis of the mediating role of unconditional self-acceptance and conditional self-acceptance in the relationship between perceived parental rejection and interpersonal dependence was carried out with structural equation modeling. According to the findings obtained from the research; there is a positive relationship between perceived rejection from parents and conditional self-acceptance; and there is a negative relationship between unconditional self-acceptance and perceived rejection from parents. A positive relationship was found between interpersonal dependence and perceived rejection from parents. A moderately positive relationship between conditional self-acceptance and interpersonal dependence; A moderately negative relationship was obtained between unconditional self-acceptance and interpersonal dependence. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the specific indirect effect of rejection perceived from both mother and father on interpersonal dependence through self-acceptance (unconditional/conditional) was positive and significant. The findings of the study were discussed and interpreted within the scope of the literature. Suggestions were made to researchers and practitioners for future studies. Keywords: Parental acceptance/rejection, self-acceptance (unconditional/conditional), interpersonal dependency