RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LIFE SATISFACTION, LIFE GOAL DETERMINATION AND PERFECTIONISM IN CHILDREN

Öz

The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between life satisfaction, life goal determination and perfectionism in 3rd and 4th grade primary school students aged 8-11 years. According to the findings of the study, it was found that life goals determination positively influenced life satisfaction and self-perfectionism mediated this relationship. Self-oriented perfectionism may positively influence life satisfaction by increasing the effort to achieve success in line with the high standards set by the individual. However, it was determined that socially prescribed perfectionism did not play a significant mediating role in this relationship. Life goal determination can enable children to reach a meaningful life by providing a sense of direction to their lives and thus increase their life satisfaction. The study reveals that when children set their own goals and try to achieve these goals, they develop their self-oriented perfectionism and this increases their life satisfaction. The findings of the study suggest that life goal determination and positive perfectionism should be emphasised in educational programmes to support children's life satisfaction. In other words, these results emphasise the importance of strategic approaches to children's emotional and cognitive development.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Life Satisfaction
• Life Goal Determination
• Self-oriented Perfectionism
• Socially Prescribed Perfectionism

ÇOCUKLARDA YAŞAM DOYUMU, YAŞAM AMACI BELİRLEME VE MÜKEMMELİYETÇİLİK ARASINDAKİ İLİŞKİLER

Öz

Bu çalışmanın amacı, 8-11 yaş arasındaki ilkokul 3. ve 4. sınıf öğrencilerinde yaşam doyumu, yaşam amacı belirleme ve mükemmeliyetçilik arasındaki ilişkileri incelemektedir. Çalışma bulgularına göre, yaşam amacı belirlemenin yaşam doyumunu pozitif yönde etkilediği ve bu ilişkide kendine özgü mükemmeliyetçiliğin aracılık rolü oynadığı saptanmıştır. Kendine özgü mükemmeliyetçilik, bireyin kendi koyduğu yüksek standartlar doğrultusunda başarıya ulaşma çabasını artırarak yaşam doyumunu olumlu yönde etkileyebilmektedir. Bununla birlikte, sosyal kaynaklı mükemmeliyetçiliğin bu ilişkide anlamlı bir aracılık rolü oynamadığı belirlenmiştir. Yaşam amacı belirleme, çocukların yaşamlarına bir yön duygusu kazandırarak anlamlı bir yaşama ulaşmalarını ve bu sayede yaşam doyumlarını artırmalarını sağlayabilir. Çalışma, çocukların kendi amaçlarını belirleyip bu amaçlara ulaşmaya çalışmalarıyla birlikte, kendine yönelik mükemmeliyetçiliklerini geliştirdiklerini ve bunun yaşamdan aldıkları doyumu artırdığını ortaya koymaktadır. Araştırma bulguları, çocukların yaşam doyumlarını desteklemek için eğitim programlarında yaşam amacı belirleme ve olumlu mükemmeliyetçilik özelliklerinin vurgulanması gerektiğini göstermektedir. Diğer bir ifade ile bu sonuçlar, çocukların duygusal ve bilişsel gelişimine yönelik stratejik yaklaşımların önemini vurgulamaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Yaşam Doyumu
• Yaşama Amacı Belirleme
• Kendine Özgü Mükemmeliyetçilik
• Sosyal Kaynaklı Mükemmeliyetçilik

Kaynakça

1. Aldemir, A. ve Demir, Y. (2022). Çocuk ve Ergenlerde Yaşam Amacı Belirleme Ölçeği (ÇEYABÖ) geliştirme ve bir model çalışması. Akdeniz Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, (11), 146-167.
2. Altay, D. ve Ekşi, H. (2018). Çocuklar İçin Yaşam Doyumu Ölçeği geçerlilik ve güvenilirlik çalışması. 5. Uluslararası Eğitim Bilimleri Sempozyumu'nda sunulan tam metin bildiri (ss. 354-362), İstanbul, Türkiye.
3. Aydıner, B. B. (2011). Üniversite öğrencilerinin yaşam amaçlarının alt boyutlarının genel öz-yeterlik yaşam doyumu ve çeşitli değişkenlere göre incelenmesi [Yayımlanmamış doktora tezi]. Sakarya Üniversitesi, Sakarya.
4. Bacanlı, H. (2004). Gelişim ve öğrenme. Ankara: Nobel Yayın Dağıtım.
5. Bauer, J. J. ve McAdams, D. P. (2010). Eudaimonic growth: Narrative growth goals predict increases in ego development and subjective well-being 3 years later. Developmental Psychology, 46(4), 761–772. doi:10.1037/a0019654
6. Bento, C.,Pereira, A. T., Azevedo, J., Saraiva, J., Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., & Macedo, A. (2020). Development and validation of a short form of the Child–Adolescent Perfectionism Scale. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 38(1), 26-36. doi:10.1177/0734282919879834
7. Bhatt, R., & Yadav, V. (2023). Perfectionism, Decision-Making, and Life-Satisfaction among Working Professionals. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Approaches in Psychology, 1(4), 21-35. doi:10.61113/ijiap.v1i4.105
8. Blau, I., Goldberg, S., & Benolol, N. (2019). Purpose and life satisfaction during adolescence: the role of meaning in life, social support, and problematic digital use. Journal of Youth Studies, 22(7), 907-925. doi:10.1080/13676261.2018.1551614

9. Burns, D. D. (1980). The perfectionist’s script for self-defeat. Psychology today, 14(6), 34-52.
10. Burrow, A. L., Sumner, R., & Ong, A. D. (2014). Perceived change in life satisfaction and daily negative affect: The moderating role of purpose in life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 15, 579-592. doi:10.1007/s10902-013-9436-9
11. Childs, J. H., & Stoeber, J. (2012). Do you want me to be perfect? Two longitudinal studies on socially prescribed perfectionism, stress and burnout in the workplace. Work & Stress, 26(4), 347-364. doi:10.1080/02678373.2012.737547
12. Çelik, H., Ekşi, H. ve Gülsu, N. (2017). Orta çocukluk döneminde güvenli bağlanma ile mükemmeliyetçiliğin çeşitli değişkenler bağlamında incelenmesi. Türk Psikolojik Danışma ve Rehberlik Dergisi, 7(47), 53-68.
13. Chen, L., Zhong, M., Cao, X., Jin, X., Wang, Y., Ling, Y., Cen, W., Zhu, X., Yao, S., Zheng, X., & Yi, J. (2017). Stress and self-esteem mediate the relationships between different categories of perfectionism and life satisfaction. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 12(3), 593–605. doi:10.1007/s11482-016-9478-3
14. Chen, X., Cai, Z., He, J., & Fan, X. (2020). Gender differences in life satisfaction among children and adolescents: A meta-analysis. Journal of Happiness Studies, 21, 2279-2307. doi:10.1007/s10902-019-00169-9
15. Cotton Bronk, K., Hill, P. L., Lapsley, D. K., Talib, T. L., & Finch, H. (2009). Purpose, hope, and life satisfaction in three age groups. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(6), 500-510. doi:10.1080/17439760903271439
16. Cunsolo, S. (2017). Subjective wellbeing during adolescence: A literature review on key factors relating to adolescent’s subjective wellbeing and education outcomes. Studi sulla Formazione, 20, 81-94. doi:10.13128/Studi_Formaz-20941
17. Çam, Z. ve Artar, M. (2014). Ergenlikte yaşam doyumu: Okul türleri bağlamında bir inceleme. Anemon Muş Alparslan Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 2(1), 23-46.
18. Çapan, B. E. (2010). Relationship among perfectionism, academic procrastination and life satisfaction of university students. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5, 1665-1671. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.07.342 Çivitci, A. (2009). İlköğretim öğrencilerinde yaşam doyumu: Bazı kişisel ve ailesel özelliklerin rolü. Uludağ Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 22(1), 29-52.
19. Deci, E. L. ve Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. doi:10.1207/s15327965pli1104_01 Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95(3), 542–575. doi:10.1080/13504851.2017.1361003
20. Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13.
21. Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Tay, L. (2018). Advances in subjective well-being research. Nature Human Behaviour, 2(4), 253–260. doi:10.1038/s41562-018-0307-6
22. Diener, E., Sandvik, E., Pavot, W. (2009). Happiness is the Frequency, Not the Intensity, of Positive Versus Negative Affect. In: Diener, E. (eds) Assessing Well-Being. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 39. Springer, Dordrecht. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-2354-4_10
23. Disabato, D. J., Goodman, F. R., Kashdan, T. B., Short, J. L. ve Jarden, A. (2016). Different types of well-being? A cross-cultural examination of hedonic and eudaimonic well- being. Psychological Assessment, 28(5), 471– 482. doi:10.1037/pas0000209
24. Edwards, J. N., & Klemmack, D. L. (1973). Correlates of life satisfaction: A re-examination. Journal of Gerontology, 28(4), 497–502. doi:10.1093/geronj/28.4.497
25. Field, A. (2024). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS Statistics (6th ed.). California: SAGE Publications.
26. Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Besser, A., Su, C., Vaillancourt, T., Boucher, D., Munro, Y., Davidson, L. A., & Gale, O. (2016). The Child–Adolescent Perfectionism Scale: Development, psychometric properties, and associations with stress, distress, and psychiatric symptoms. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 34(7), 634–652. doi:10.1177/0734282916651381
27. Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Nepon, T., Sherry, S. B., & Smith, M. (2022). The destructiveness and public health significance of socially prescribed perfectionism: A review, analysis, and conceptual extension. Clinical Psychology Review, 93, 102130. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2022.102130
28. Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Huyn, H. H. (2012). How to design and evaluate research in education. The McGraw-Hill Companies.
29. Frankl, V. E. (1994). Duyulmayan anlam çığlığı, psikoterapi ve hümanizm. (Çev.: Selçuk Budak). İstanbul: Öteki Yayınevi.
30. Frankl, V. E. (2009). İnsanın anlam arayışı. (Çev.: Selçuk Budak). İstanbul: Okuyan Us. Fredrickson, B. L., Mancuso, R. A., Branigan, C. ve Tugade, M. M. (2000). Motivation and Emotion, 24(4), 237–258. doi:10.1023/a:1010796329158
31. Gadermann, A.M., Schonert-Reichl, K.A. & Zumbo, B.D. (2010) Investigating validity evidence of the Satisfaction with Life Scale adapted for children. Soc Indic Res, 96, 229–247. doi:10.1007/s11205-009-9474-1
32. Gravetter, F. J., & Forzano, L. B. (2018). Research methods for the behavioral sciences (6th ed.). Boston: Cengage.
33. Gundelach, P., & Kreiner, S. (2004). Happiness and Life Satisfaction in Advanced European Countries. Cross-Cultural Research: The Journal of Comparative Social Science, 38(4), 359–386. doi:10.1177/1069397104267483
34. Hamachek, D. E. (1978). Psychodynamics of normal and neurotic perfectionism. Psychology: A Journal of Human Behavior, 15(1), 27–33.
35. Hayes, A. F. (2022). Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-Based Approach (Vol. 3). New York: The Guilford Press.
36. Heisel, M. J., & Flett, G. L. (2004). Purpose in life, satisfaction with life, and suicide ideation in a clinical sample. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 26, 127–135. doi:/10.1023/B:JOBA.0000013660.22413.e0
37. Heller, D., Watson, D., & Ilies, R. (2004). The role of person versus situation in life satisfaction: A critical examination. Psychological Bulletin, 130(4), 574–600. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.4.574
38. Hewitt, P. L., & Flett, G. L. (1991). Perfectionism in the self and social contexts: Conceptualization, assessment, and association with psychopathology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60(3), 456–470. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.60.3.456
39. Hofer, J., & Chasiotis, A. (2003). Congruence of life goals and implicit motives as predictors of life satisfaction: Cross-cultural implications of a study of Zambian male adolescents. Motivation and Emotion, 27(3), 251–272. doi:10.1023/A:1025011815778
40. Hollender, M. H. (1965). Perfectionism. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 6(2), 94–103. doi:10.1016/s0010-440x(65)80016-5
41. Karataş, Z., & Uzun, K. (2021). Ergenlerin kendilerini, başkalarını ve durumları affetme eğilimlerinin yordanmasında mükemmeliyetçilik, yalnızlık ve öz-şefkatin etkisi. Mehmet Akif Ersoy Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, (58), 248-289. doi:10.21764/maeuefd.877884
42. Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1996). Further examining the American dream: differential correlates of intrinsic and extrinsic goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22(3), 280–287. doi:10.1177/014616729622300 Kish, G. B., & Moody, D. R. (1989). Psychopathology and life purpose. International Forum for Logotherapy, 12(1), 40–45.
43. Laurenti, H. J., Bruch, M. A., & Haase, R. F. (2008). Social anxiety and socially prescribed perfectionism: Unique and interactive relationships with maladaptive appraisal of interpersonal situations. Personality and Individual Differences, 45(1), 55-61. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2008.02.018
44. Lucas, R. E. (2004, June). Top-down and bottom-up models of life satisfaction judgments. In 6th International German Socio-Economic Panel Study User Conference (Vol. 26).
45. McMahon, D. M. (2004). From the happiness of virtue to the virtue of happiness: 400 B.C. – A.D. 1780. Daedalus, 133(2), 5–17. doi:10.1162/001152604323049343
46. Myers, D. G., & Diener, E. (1995). Who is happy? Psychological Science, 6(1), 10–19. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.1995.tb00298.x
47. Neugarten, B. L., Havighurst, R. J., & Tobin, S. S. (1961). The measurement of life satisfaction. Journal of Gerontology, 16, 134–143. doi:10.1093/geronj/16.2.134
48. Olčar, D., Rijavec, M., & Ljubin Golub, T. (2019). Primary school teachers’ life satisfaction: The role of life goals, basic psychological needs and flow at work. Current Psychology, 38(2), 320-329. doi:10.1007/s12144-017-9611-y
49. Peterson, C., Park, N., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Orientations to happiness and life satisfaction: The full life versus the empty life. Journal of Happiness Studies: An Interdisciplinary Forum on Subjective Well-Being, 6(1), 25–41. doi:10.1007/s10902-004-1278-z
50. Proctor, C., Linley, P. A., & Maltby, J. (2010). Very happy youths: Benefits of very high life satisfaction among adolescents. Social Indicators Research, 98(3), 519–532. doi:10.1007/s11205-009-9562-2
51. Reker, G. T., Peacock, E. J., & Wong, P. T. (1987). Meaning and purpose in life and well-being: A life-span perspective. Journal of Gerontology, 42(1), 44-49. doi:10.1093/geronj/42.1.44
52. Ryan, R. M. ve Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 141–166. doi:10.1021/jf60138a019.
53. Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069–1081. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.57.6.1069
54. Ryff, C. D., Keyes, C. L. M., & Hughes, D. L. (2003). Status inequalities, perceived discrimination, and eudaimonic well-being: Do the challenges of minority life hone purpose and growth? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 44(3), 275–291. doi:10.2307/1519779
55. Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. H. (2006). Best news yet on the six-factor model of well-being. Social Science Research, 35(4), 1103–1119. doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2006.01.002
56. Seligman, M. E. P. (2020). Gerçek mutluluk. Ankara: Serbest Kitaplar.
57. Sezer, Ö ve Turğut, E. (2019). Ergenlerde şükran, yaşam amaçları ve yaşam doyumunun bazı değişkenler açısından incelenmesi. YYÜ Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 16(1), 1463-1491, doi:10.23891/efdyyu.2019.168
58. Sheldon, K. M., Elliot, A. J., Kim, Y. ve Kasser, T. (2001). What is satisfying about satisfying events? Testing 10 candidate psychological needs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(2), 325–339. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.80.2.325
59. Silverman, L. K. (1999). Perfectionism. Gifted Education International, 13(3), 216-225. doi:10.1177/026142949901300303
60. Smith, M. M., Sherry, S. B., McLarnon, M. E., Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Saklofske, D. H., & Etherson, M. E. (2018). Why does socially prescribed perfectionism place people at risk for depression? A five-month, two-wave longitudinal study of the Perfectionism Social Disconnection Model. Personality and Individual Differences, 134, 49-54. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2018.05.040
61. Solomon, R. C. ve Stone, L. D. (2002). On “positive” and “negative” emotions. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 32(4), 417–435. doi:10.1111/14685914.00196
62. Steel, P., Schmidt, J., & Shultz, J. (2008). Refining the relationship between personality and subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 134(1), 138–161. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.134.1.138
63. Stoeber, J., & Childs, J. H. (2010). The assessment of self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism: Subscales make a difference. Journal of Personality Assessment, 92(6), 577–585. doi:10.1080/00223891.2010.513306
64. Stoeber, J., & Otto, K. (2006). Positive conceptions of perfectionism: Approaches, evidence, challenges. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10(4), 295-319. doi:10.1207/s15327957pspr1004
65. Stoeber, J., & Stoeber, F. S. (2009). Domains of perfectionism: Prevalence and relationships with perfectionism, gender, age, and satisfaction with life. Personality and Individual Differences, 46(4), 530–535. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2008.12.006
66. Stoeber, J., Feast, A. R., & Hayward, J. A. (2009). Self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism: Differential relationships with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and test anxiety. Personality and Individual Differences, 47(5), 423-428. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2009.04.014
67. Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2013). Using Multivariate Statistics (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
68. Veenhoven, R. (2015). The Overall Satisfaction with Life: Subjective Approaches (1). In: Glatzer, W., Camfield, L., Møller, V., Rojas, M. (eds) Global Handbook of Quality of Life. International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life. Dordrecht: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-9178-6_9
69. Uz Baş, A. (2011). Dimensions of perfectionism in elementary school-aged children: Associations with anxiety, life satisfaction, and academic achievement. Education & Science, 36(162), 261-272.
70. Waterman, A. S. (1993). Two conceptions of happiness: Contrasts of personal expressiveness (eudaimonia) and hedonic enjoyment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(4), 678–691. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.64.4.678
71. Wang, Q., & Wu, H. (2022). Associations between maladaptive perfectionism and life satisfaction among Chinese undergraduate medical students: the mediating role of academic burnout and the moderating role of self-esteem. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 774622. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.774622
72. Yıldırım, O. ve Balcı-Çelik, S. (2022). Çocuk-Ergen Mükemmeliyetçilik Ölçeği-Kısa Form: Türkçeye uyarlama, geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. İnönü Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 23(1), 1-19. doi:10.17679/inuefd.858685