Search

Valid and reliable instruments are required to appropriately study perfectionism. With this in mind, three studies are presented that describe the development and initial validation of a new instrument designed to measure multidimensional performance perfectionism for use in sport (Performance Perfectionism Scale--Sport [PPS-S]). The instrument is based on Hewitt and Flett's (1991) model of perfectionism and includes self-oriented, socially prescribed, and other-oriented performance perfectionism. These dimensions encapsulate the features of Hewitt and Flett's dimensions but are focused on athletic performance rather than life generally. The three studies outline item generation and refinement, exploratory, confirmatory, and exploratory-confirmatory examination of factor structure, and initial assessment of construct validity in multiple samples of adolescent and young adult athletes. Findings suggest that the PPS-S is likely to be a reliable and valid measure of performance perfectionism in youth sport. As validation continues, we expect the instrument to have wider applicability for use in adults and other performance contexts (e.g., education and work).

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of schools in the UK and students had to study at home with limited access to the support they would have normally received. We designed this study to assess the experience of gifted and talented (GAT) students during this period and to identify factors related to their stress and self-regulation of learning. The factors we focused on were perfectionism and feelings of mattering. Three-hundred and eleven GAT students completed an online questionnaire when schools were closed and they were studying at home. Analyses revealed that striving for perfection was related to better effort regulation and better time and environment management. However, negative reactions to imperfection and feeling like they did not matter (anti-mattering) were related to higher academic stress, as well as worse effort regulation and worse time and environment management. The findings suggest aspects of both perfectionism and mattering may be important for GAT students' ability to study effectively during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youth sport is a source of well-being for adolescents, yet experiences vary and attrition can be high. We sought to better understand the coach behaviors that foster positive experiences in youth sport by examining relationships between the motivational climate and athlete engagement (viz., confidence, dedication, enthusiasm, and vigor). We reasoned that a mastery climate (emphasis on effort and learning) would correspond with higher engagement, whereas a performance climate (emphasis on ability and outcome) was expected to correspond with lower engagement. Two-hundred sixty adolescent soccer players completed measures of engagement and perceived coach motivational climate. All dimensions of engagement were positively predicted by a mastery climate. Furthermore, cognitive aspects of engagement were positively predicted by a performance climate. Canonical correlation analysis indicated that a composite of engagement was positively associated with a mastery climate. Results suggest that a mastery climate offers a means of promoting higher levels of overall engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the relationship between dance-related perfectionism and perceptions of motivational climate in dance over time. In doing so, three possibilities were tested: (a) perfectionism affects perceptions of the motivational climate, (b) perceptions of the motivational climate affect perfectionism, and (c) the relationship is reciprocal. Two hundred seventy-one young dancers (M = 14.21 years old, SD = 1.96) from UK Centres for Advanced Training completed questionnaires twice, approximately 6 months apart. Crosslagged analysis indicated that perfectionistic concerns led to increased perceptions of an ego-involving climate and decreased perceptions of a task-involving climate over time. In addition, perceptions of a task-involving climate led to increased perfectionistic strivings over time. The findings suggest that perfectionistic concerns may color perceptions of training/performing environments so that mistakes are deemed unacceptable and only superior performance is valued. They also suggest that perceptions of a task-involving climate in training/ performing environments may encourage striving for excellence and perfection without promoting excessive concerns regarding their attainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perfectionism is a personality characteristic that has been found to predict sports performance in athletes. To date, however, research has exclusively examined this relationship at an individual level (i.e., athletes' perfectionism predicting their personal performance). The current study extends this research to team sports by examining whether, when manifested at the team level, perfectionism predicts team performance. A sample of 231 competitive rowers from 36 boats completed measures of self-oriented, team-oriented, and team-prescribed perfectionism before competing against one another in a 4-day rowing competition. Strong within-boat similarities in the levels of team members' team-oriented perfectionism supported the existence of collective team-oriented perfectionism at the boat level. Two-level latent growth curve modeling of day-byday boat performance showed that team-oriented perfectionism positively predicted the position of the boat in midcompetition and the linear improvement in position. The findings suggest that imposing perfectionistic standards on team members may drive teams to greater levels of performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has shown that perfectionism predicts emotional experiences among amateur, professional and adolescent musicians. In examining these relationships, previous research has measured trait perfectionism and employed cross-sectional designs. The current study builds on existing research by examining whether perfectionistic self-presentation (as opposed to trait perfectionism) predicts negative and positive emotional experiences in music students over time. One hundred and forty-three music students (M age 18.92 years, SD = 2.96) enrolled in music-related degree programs completed measures of perfectionistic self-presentation (perfectionistic self-promotion, non-display of imperfection, and non-disclosure of imperfection) and emotional experiences (positive and negative feelings) at the start, middle and the end of the academic year. Path analysis revealed that perfectionistic self-promotion at the start of the year predicted lower positive feelings in the middle of the year, and non-disclosure of imperfection in the middle of the year predicted lower positive feelings at the end of the year. In addition, negative feelings in the middle of the year also predicted higher non-disclosure of imperfection at the end of the year. The findings suggest that the desire to present oneself perfectly and avoid disclosure of imperfections may contribute to less positive emotional experiences among music students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has recently begun to examine the relationship between multidimensional perfectionism and athletes' post-competition mood. However, to date, there have been few attempts to examine the interaction between dimensions of perfectionism or model possible explanatory processes. To address these limitations, in the current study we tested a novel conditional process model whereby the relationship between perfectionistic strivings and post-competition affect was mediated by the degree to which goals were considered to have been met (goal-realization) and that this indirect effect was, in turn, moderated by levels of perfectionistic concerns. We tested this model in a sample of 251 athletes who took part in a "Runmageddon" event - a cross-country obstacle race. Athletes completed measures of perfectionism (perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns) before the race and measures of goal-realization and mood (tense arousal, energetic arousal, and hedonic tone) between 24 and 48 h after the race. Analyses revealed that perfectionistic strivings were indirectly linked to a more unpleasant post-competition mood (higher tense arousal and lower hedonic tone) via perceptions of lower goal-realization. In addition, these two indirect effects were statistically significant only when perfectionistic concerns were medium and high. The results support the proposed conditional model and suggest the interplay between dimensions of perfectionism is important for athletes' post-competition mood, and the level of perfectionistic concerns, especially. • Perfectionistic strivings led to unpleasant mood indirectly via lower goal-realization. • Perfectionistic concerns moderated indirect effects of perfectionistic strivings. • Indirect effects were evident when perfectionistic concerns were higher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A meta-analysis of research examining the relationships between multidimensional perfectionism and burnout is provided. In doing so, relationships before and after controlling for the relationship between dimensions of perfectionism were examined along with whether relationships were moderated by domain (work, sport, or education). A literature search yielded 43 studies (N = 9,838) and 663 effect sizes. Meta-analysis using random-effects models revealed that perfectionistic strivings had small negative or non-significant relationships with overall burnout and symptoms of burnout. By contrast, perfectionistic concerns displayed medium-to-large and medium positive relationships with overall burnout and symptoms of burnout. After controlling for the relationship between dimensions of perfectionism, “pure” perfectionistic strivings displayed notably larger negative relationships. In terms of moderation, in some cases, perfectionistic strivings were less adaptive and perfectionistic concerns more maladaptive in the work domain. Future research should examine explanatory mechanisms, adopt longitudinal designs, and develop interventions to reduce perfectionistic concerns fueled burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including perfectionist athletes, multi-dimensional perfectionism and passion in junior athletes, and the risk of perfectionism.

Abstract: Research suggests that while socially prescribed perfectionism has a robust association with psychological difficulties, self-oriented perfectionism may be best considered a vulnerability factor (). One explanation for their divergent consequences is that these dimensions of perfectionism are underpinned by different contingencies of self-worth. The purpose of the current study was to examine this possibility. Two-hundred and thirty-eight undergraduate students (age M =18.94, SD=1.33, range 18–25). completed measures of perfectionism (self-oriented and socially prescribed) and contingencies of self-worth (based on outperforming others, approval of others, and personal competence). Consistent with the hypotheses, regression analyses revealed that socially prescribed perfectionism was predicted by contingencies of self-worth based on outperforming others and the approval of others, whereas self-oriented perfectionism was predicted by contingencies of self-worth based on outperforming others and personal competence. The results suggest that the nature of the contingencies of self-worth associated with these dimensions of perfectionism may be important when considering their relationship with psychological maladjustment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objectives: Recent research suggests that self-oriented perfectionism may be similar to conscientious achievement striving. have argued, however, that despite some similarities, there are also critical theoretical differences. The purpose of the current investigation was to examine differences between self-oriented perfectionism and conscientious achievement striving in terms of their relationship with core dimensions of perfectionism. Method: A sample comprising 255 male cricket players (age M = 15.51 SD = 1.63) from British county cricket academies completed measures of self-oriented perfectionism, conscientious achievement striving and various other dimensions of perfectionism (e.g., high standards, perfectionistic striving, self-criticism, and fear of failure). Results: Analyses indicated that self-oriented perfectionism and conscientious achievement striving shared an association with high standards and perfectionistic striving. However, self-oriented perfectionism was also positively related to concern over mistakes, a fear of failure and negative reactions to imperfection. Further, the relationship between self-oriented perfectionism and both high standards and perfectionistic striving remained significant after controlling for conscientious achievement striving. Conclusion: The findings suggest that these two achievement related personality factors are distinct and are likely to have divergent consequences for junior athletes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

It has recently been argued that because the major two dimensions of perfectionism (perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns, PS and PC) can have opposing effects, the "combined effect" should be calculated to understand whether, overall, perfectionism is neutral, adaptive, or maladaptive. In this methodological note we revisit the task of disentangling the overall effects of PS and PC. In doing so, we illustrate a new and alternative approach – calculation of the total unique effect and the relative weights of PS and PC. The total unique effect is the simplest way of ascertaining whether perfectionism is neutral, adaptive, or maladaptive. However, like the combined effect, it does not convey information regarding the relative importance of PS and PC. Calculating the relative weights of PS and PC does so and provides a fuller account of the overall effect of perfectionism and the precise role of each dimension when predicting a given outcome. We close the paper by applying this approach to a range of outcomes reported in recent meta-analyses in this area. In doing so, perfectionism is revealed to be primarily maladaptive and rarely adaptive or neutral, with the relative contribution of perfectionistic concerns being the main reason why this is the case. • Perfectionism includes dimensions that can have opposing effects. • A new approach to determining the overall effect of perfectionism is illustrated. • Perfectionism is revealed to be primarily maladaptive and rarely adaptive or neutral. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perfectionism is linked to an array of cognitive, affective, and behavioral correlates in sport. However, research examining links between perfectionism and performance in competition, especially following failure, is scarce. The purpose of this study was to examine the interaction between two higher-order dimensions of perfectionism—perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns—in predicting golf-putting performance following failure in competition. A correlational design was employed. Ninety-nine (52 female) intercollegiate athletes (M age = 20.51 years, SD = 1.79) completed a domain-specific measure of perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns in sport. Athletes competed in two trials of a golf-putting task against a research confederate. After the first trial of ten putts (and before the second trial of ten putts) athletes were provided false-failure feedback indicating that they were losing the competition to their opponent. Performance was measured by the total distance each putt finished from the intended target. Moderated hierarchical regression analysis with Johnson-Neyman technique to probe interactions revealed that, following failure, perfectionistic strivings is associated with better performance when perfectionistic concerns is lower, but associated with worse performance when perfectionistic concerns is higher. Dimensions of perfectionism predict performance following competitive failure and the presence of higher (versus lower) perfectionistic concerns appears to be a key determining factor in how athletes perform. • Dimensions of perfectionism predicted golf putting performance following failure. • Perfectionistic strivings and concerns interacted to predict performance. • Strivings were associated with better performance when concerns were lower. • Strivings were associated with worse performance when concerns were higher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]