The Roles of Rejection Sensitivity and Dysfunctional Perfectionism in the Relationship Between Perceived Parental Psychological Control and Social Anxiety

Abstract

Social anxiety is a common and persistent mental health problem associated with substantial functional impairment. It comprises distinct subtypes, including social interaction anxiety and performance anxiety, which differ in their cognitive characteristics and may arise through different developmental pathways. Previous research has identified parental psychological control as an important risk factor for social anxiety and has linked rejection sensitivity and dysfunctional perfectionism to social anxiety symptoms. However, little is known about whether different forms of parental psychological control contribute to distinct social anxiety subtypes through different cognitive mechanisms. Addressing this gap, the present study examined whether rejection sensitivity and dysfunctional perfectionism differentially mediate the relationships between dependency-oriented and achievement-oriented psychological control and social interaction anxiety and performance anxiety. Using a cross-sectional design, 189 Korean college students completed validated self-report measures of parental psychological control, rejection n sensitivity, dysfunctional perfectionism, and social anxiety. Mediation effects were examined using regression analyses, Sobel tests, and multiple mediation analyses. The results indicated that rejection sensitivity partially mediated the relationship between dependency-oriented psychological control and social interaction anxiety. In contrast, achievement-oriented psychological control influenced performance anxiety through both dysfunctional perfectionism and rejection sensitivity, with dysfunctional perfectionism showing the stronger indirect effect. Furthermore, dependency-oriented psychological control was more strongly associated with rejection sensitivity, whereas achievement-oriented psychological control was more strongly associated with dysfunctional perfectionism, supporting distinct developmental pathways for the two social anxiety subtypes. These findings extend previous research by demonstrating that different forms of parental psychological control contribute to different cognitive vulnerabilities underlying social anxiety. The findings suggest that interventions may be more effective when tailored to social anxiety subtype by targeting rejection sensitivity in individuals with social interaction anxiety and dysfunctional perfectionism in those with performance anxiety. However, because the study employed a cross-sectional design and relied exclusively on self-report measures, causal inferences cannot be drawn, and the generalizability of the findings may be limited.