Positive and negative perfectionism

Abstract

Previous research into perfectionism has focused on clinical populations resulting in a bias towards a negativistic, pathologically inclined conceptualization. The present study investigated the possibility of distinguishing aspects of perfectionism on the basis of perceived consequences, mirroring a behavioural distinction between positive and negative reinforcement. A 40-item questionnaire, designed to measure perfectionism defined in terms of both positive and negative outcome, was administered to 281 women; a comparison group (N = 225), an eating disordered group (N = 21), a depressed group (N = 15) and successful athletes (N = 20). A factor analysis of the results extracted three factors; negative perfectionism including both personal and social items; positive personal perfectionism; and positive social perfectionism. Limiting the number of factors to two yielded a clear distinction between positive and negative perfectionism. Group comparisons yielded significance differences; for athletes high positive perfectionism was associated with a low negative perfectionism score; for the eating disorders group a high positive perfectionism score was associated with a high negative score. When analysed in terms of personal and social items the distinguishing factors were the negative and positive components, athletes and eating disordered groups obtaining comparably high positive personal perfectionism scores and the clinical groups obtaining comparably high negative perfectionism scores.