A qualitative survey of the origins of multi-dimensional perfectionism and the experiences of perfectionists and non-perfectionists

Perfectionism is a complex construct with numerous implications for understanding and treating the emotional distress seen in many college students. Existing literature provides fairly consistent descriptions of the characteristics of individuals with perfectionism; however, it lacks causal explanations for questions such as: (a) why some individuals develop perfectionism but not others, (b) why perfectionism manifests in a multi-dimensional nature, or (c) why the emotional and behavioral correlates of perfectionism co-occur and correlate with the dimensions of perfectionism as they do. This exploratory study investigated these questions in order to generate hypotheses for future empirical studies designed to further understand the construct. Participants were 58 undergraduate and graduate students, 46 women and 12 men, with a mean age of 21.9 years. Participants completed an online survey consisting of the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS; Hewitt & Flett, 1991); a qualitative questionnaire exploring participant attitudes about goals and success, experiences with success and failure, relationships with caregivers, and self-perceptions; and a demographic questionnaire. Responses were grouped into one of four categories based on participant MPS scores—Self-Oriented Perfectionists (14 participants), Socially Prescribed Perfectionists (13 participants), High Self-Oriented/High Socially Prescribed Perfectionists (16 participants), and Non-Perfectionists (15 participants)—and then analyzed using an abbreviated version of grounded theory (Corbin & Strauss, 2014; Willing, 2013). Findings were largely consistent with existing literature, particularly related to self-oriented perfectionists’ focus on personal standards, how heavily attitudes and expectations of others influenced socially prescribed perfectionists, and the differential impact of parental flexibility and support versus harsh demands and criticism. The inclusion of non-perfectionists and individuals high in both types of perfectionism allowed for novel findings including strong similarities in the attitudes and experiences of non-perfectionists and self-oriented perfectionists, and that self-oriented characteristics may mitigate socially-prescribed characteristics for individuals high in both types of perfectionism resulting in less distress than typically assumed. Areas for future exploration were also identified, including how the development of perfectionism is impacted by having caregivers who were raised outside of the U.S., by being able to experience pride or ownership in successes, or by the degree of personal and caregiver acceptance in response to failures.Psy.D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Traci Ballou-Broadna