Perfectionism and Baldness Distress in Men: The Mediating Effect of Aging Anxiety

Introduction: Against the backdrop of increasing body image concerns among men, the present study examined two factors that might underlie men’s baldness distress: rigid perfectionism and anxiety about physical aging.

Methods: An international sample of 355 men with varying degrees of baldness and an age range of 19 to 64 years were surveyed.

Results: As hypothesized, participants scoring high in rigid perfectionism showed higher levels of baldness distress. This association was partially mediated by anxiety about physical aging. The mediation was not further moderated by participants’ age, degree and duration of baldness, cultural context, or racial identity, which underlines the generalizability of results.

Discussion and Conclusion: The discussion centers around the partial rather than complete mediation by aging anxiety and implications of the findings for supporting balding men in the public health domain.