The Gold Standard: Understanding the Impact of Perfectionism on Occupation

Occupational Science seeks to understand human occupation, often grouping occupations into categories and considering external factors that influence occupation. While psychological literature examines perfectionism, there are no studies within occupational science that directly relate to perfectionism. This mixed methods study sought to gain an understanding of how perfectionism impacts the occupations of occupational science students and to examine how perfectionism positively or negatively influenced the occupations and well-being of students. Original research using the Almost Perfect Scale, Revised (APS-R), developed by Stanley, et al. (1996) was administered to a class of Occupational Science (OS) students. The results were used to categorize students as perfectionists or non-perfectionists. A subsample of students in both groups was selected and time logs of their occupations were compared and analyzed. A follow- up survey of the perfectionists was conducted, and four themes emerged from the qualitative responses. The quantitative results showed a difference in the time perfectionists spent in occupations compared to nonperfectionists peers. These results could be used to promote lifestyle balance among OS students and encourage them to monitor their time to prevent workaholism in future work related endeavors. Finally, this knowledge can help future occupational therapists understand perfectionist tendencies of clients.https://encompass.eku.edu/swps_undergraduategallery/1068/thumbnail.jp