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Mental health stigma is a prevalent issue in our society and can be observed through stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. Perfectionism is one of the behaviors that can be observed in individuals in relation to their cultural upbringing, societal norms, values, and expectations. This study analyzed the relationship between mental health stigma and perfectionism by cross-culturally comparing Americans and Germans while also considering cultural differences of individualism and collectivism.
A total of 304 adult participants, 147 American and 157 German, were asked to respond to: an anonymous online demographic questionnaire and items measuring perfectionism using the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Hewitt & Flett, 1991), mental health stigma with the Stigma-9 Questionnaire (Gierk et. al., 2018), and degrees of individualism-collectivism utilizing the Individualism-Collectivism Scale (Triandis & Gelfand, 1998).
Contrary to predictions, statistical analyses revealed: 1) Americans scored significantly higher on measures of perfectionism and mental health stigma compared to Germans 2) Americans scored significantly higher on measures of individualism, Germans on collectivism and 3) significant correlations were revealed between mental health stigma and perfectionism for both, American, and German, participants.
Limitations in design and directions for future research were discussed.