The \u27Perfect\u27 Counsellor: Personality Factors and Multidimensional Perfectionism

Personality factors and multidimensional perfectionism have not been researched among professional counsellors. This study examined the relationship between the Big Five (John, O. P., Naumann, L. P., & Soto, C. J. (2008). Paradigm shift to the integrative Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and conceptual issues. In O. P. John, R. W. Robins, & L. A. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 114–158). New York, NY: Guilford Press) personality factors with Hewitt and Flett’s (1991. Perfectionism in the self and social contexts: Conceptualization, assessment, and association with psychopathology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 456–470) three dimensions of perfectionism among counsellors (N = 257) using a canonical correlation. All canonical functions were statistically significant, explaining 43.8% of the total variance within the data. Correlations across variable sets indicate a significant correlation between neuroticism and socially prescribed perfection (r = .430; p \u3c .001), neuroticism and self-oriented perfection (r = .297; p \u3c .001), extraversion and socially prescribed perfection (r = −.231; p = .002), conscientiousness and socially prescribed perfection (r = −.180; p = .015), and agreeableness and others-oriented perfection (r = −.175; p = .018)