Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating effect of perceived stress on the relationship between perfectionism and bulimic behavior in 526 female university students. Research instruments were follows: the Bulimia Test Revised; BULIT-R, the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale; MPS, and the Perceived Stress Scale; PPS. Through correlation analysis, the relationship between research variables were examined. And using the SPSS PROCESS Macro of Hayes (2013), the mediating effects of perceived stress in perfectionism and bulimic behavior were verified. As a result of correlation analysis, there was a significant correlation between multidimensional perfectionism, perceived stress, and bulimic behavior. The higher the perfectionism behavior, the more perceived stress was, and the more perceived stress, the more bulimic behavior was. Macro analysis showed that perceived stress partially mediated the relationship between multidimensional perfectionism and bulimic behavior. Self-oriented perfectionism, other-oriented perfectionism, and socially prescribed perfectionism had a directly affect bulimic behavior, and as the negative perceptions which is a sub-factor of perceived stress, it had an indirect effect on bulimic behavior. The mediating effect of positive perception, which is a sub-factor of perceived stress, was not significant. Finally, the significance of this study and the follow-up study and treatment of bulimic behavior of female university students were suggested.