Subjects with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) are characterized by low self-esteem, pessimism, procrastination and also perfectionism.

To examine the link between social anxiety and perfectionism and to evaluate cultural differences on these measures.

To improve our understanding on cultural factors, anxiety disorders and personality features.

Questionnaires on social anxiety, perfectionism and automatic thoughts were administered in a group of 132 students, 58 Israeli-Jewish and 74 Israeli-Arab with an average age of 26.

The rate of SAD in these students according to a score of 60 or more on the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) was 16%, a rather high rate in the Western world. the correlation between the total LSAS score and the score of perfectionism was significant (r = 0.31). Also, we will compare data on SAD and perfectionism between our two sub-samples, Jewish and Arab students. Significant differences between the Israeli-Jewish students and Israeli-Arab students appeared on two of the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scales: parental expectations and parental criticism with higher scores in the Arab students.

The linkage between SAD and perfectionism will be discussed and implications for treatment will be suggested.