Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine the perfectionism and five big personality relationships, as well as the possible effects of gender and age group differences on these in Iranian adolescents and young adults’ sample. The sample included 136 adolescents and 184 young adults that were selected randomly from the Shiraz city, Fars province, Iran. A demographic questionnaire, the Ahwaz Perfectionism Inventory (API) and the NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) were used in this study. Analysis indicated there are significant negative correlation coefficients between perfectionism, neuroticism and agreeableness, but there are no significant correlation coefficients between perfectionism, extraversion, openness to experience and conscientiousness. However, a MANOVA rejected the effects of gender and gender-aged group interaction significant effects in perfectionism and personality. Finally, the multiple regressions indicated that only neuroticism explained perfectionism variation in females, males, adolescents, young adults and the total sample.

Key words: Perfectionism, five big personality, adolescents, young adult, gender.