Aversion to happiness mediates effects of meaning in life, perfectionism, and self-esteem on psychological distress in Turkish adults

ObjectivePrevious research has found a negative association between aversion to happiness and various aspects of mental well-being. In the present study, we hypothesised that aversion to happiness (as measured by the fear of happiness scale) would mediate the association between psychological distress and three predictors: Meaning in life, self-esteem, and perfectionism. We included five dimensions of perfectionism separately, and a composite of the five dimensions to measure overall perfectionism.MethodWe used a sample of 317 individuals from Turkey (mean age = 27.31) to test our hypotheses. We employed both ordinary least square regression analysis and path analysis to examine the mediation hypotheses.ResultsThe results of mediation analyses showed that aversion to happiness was a significant mediator of the associations between psychological distress and self-esteem, meaning in life, the five aspects of perfectionism, and overall perfectionism. In a path model with meaning in life, self-esteem, and overall perfectionism, aversion to happiness was found to significantly mediate only the effects of meaning in life and perfectionism.ConclusionsThese results highlight the importance of meaning in life, self-esteem, and perfectionism as predictors of aversion to happiness and the role of aversion to happiness as a mediator for the links between these predictors and mental well-being. What is already known about this topic: Aversion to happiness has been linked to reduced mental well-being and increased psychopathology symptoms.Previous studies have explored some predictors of aversion to happiness, such as childhood maltreatment, insecure attachment, and neuroticism.Aversion to happiness is commonly examined as a predictor variable in psychological research.What this topic adds: This study is the first to demonstrate that low self-esteem and a lack of meaning in life are significant predictors of aversion to happiness.This study provides new evidence that perfectionism, across multiple dimensions, contributes to aversion to happiness.Aversion to happiness mediated the relationships between meaning in life, self-esteem, perfectionism, and psychological distress.