The relationship between social status and stress with work pressure and socially prescribed perfectionism as possible mediators

Abstract

The present study assessed the relationship between social status and stress, and whether this relationship was mediated by work pressure and socially prescribed perfectionism. The study was conducted with an online questionnaire measuring social status, stress, work pressure and socially prescribed perfectionism. The sample consisted of 148 participants after data cleaning. Results of a mediation analysis found no significant mediating effects of work pressure and socially prescribed perfectionism on the relationship between social status and stress. Results did find a significant effect for the relationship between social status and stress with a low social status leading to more stress. This was not in line with the hypothesis. The variable social support could explain why the hypotheses were not confirmed by the results. Limitations of the study were that there were not enough participants to have a high enough power and that social status was measured with a self-perception scale. A replication is needed to determine if work pressure and socially prescribed perfectionism are mediators of the relationship between social status and stress. In this replication social support should be added as a control variable.