Search Results (14)

Background: Perfectionism is a growing concern among university students, who face high expectations, demanding workloads, and complex academic tasks. These pressures often lead to stress, negatively impacting performance, well-being, and career trajectories. Existing measures of perfectionism and related stress lack focus on their causes and relevance to students. Methods: This study developed and psychometrically tested an inventory assessing the causes (ROOTS), manifestations (MPS-R), and stress (IPSS-R) related to perfectionism. A multicenter cross-sectional online survey was conducted across multiple Italian universities with 469 students. The ROOTS tool was developed, and the MPS and IPSS were adapted following established guidelines. Content validity was examined, and pilot testing was performed. Confirmatory factor analyses tested three-factor models with a second-order factor for each instrument. Construct validity and reliability were also assessed. Results: The ROOTS, MPS-R, and IPSS-R demonstrated strong structural and construct validity, with acceptable reliability. Significant correlations highlighted the interconnectedness of perfectionism’s causes, manifestations, and stress. Conclusions: The Perfectionism Inventory offers a comprehensive tool for identifying causes, manifestations, and consequences of perfectionism in university students. It can help educators and policymakers develop strategies to mitigate its impact on mental health and academic success. Future research should explore its applicability in other populations. Full article

School-based intervention programs aiming to support adolescents with mental health problems, such as (school-related) stress and performance anxiety, show inconsistent results. In order to make intervention efforts more beneficial, it is crucial to investigate who is most (un)likely to benefit and under what circumstances. The current study aimed to identify whether problem severity, maladaptive perfectionism, and perceived parental pressure moderate the effectiveness of a school-based performance anxiety program, and if this depends on the level of program attendance. The final sample consisted of N = 196 adolescents (M_age = 14.12, SD = 0.79, with 53% females) who participated in a randomized controlled trial. ANCOVAs were conducted for two indicators of performance anxiety: test anxiety and fear of failure. The results demonstrated that for test anxiety, the program was only effective for adolescents with higher pretest levels. Moreover, in the subsample of adolescents with higher program attendance, the program was only effective for adolescents with higher self-criticism perfectionism, and larger effects were observed for adolescents with higher pretest test anxiety and socially prescribed perfectionism. Our findings demonstrate that even a short program can yield positive effects, particularly for adolescents with high program attendance and who experience high problem severity and maladaptive perfectionism. Full article

High school students face critical psychological challenges during adolescence, including academic pressures and educational decision-making. Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration provides a framework for understanding growth through disintegration and reintegration, with perfectionistic traits acting as intrinsic motivators for self-improvement. This study examined the psychological profiles of 641 Taiwanese high school students: 207 mathematically and scientifically talented students (MSTS), 187 verbally talented students (VTS), and 247 regular students (RS). Using the ME III, refined from the ME II, and the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, our research assessed overexcitabilities (OEs) and perfectionism traits. MSTS and VTS scored significantly higher in Intellectual and Imaginational OEs than RS, with VTS also overperforming in sensual OE. MSTS and VTS showed higher personal standards, while VTS excelled in organization, and RS reported higher parental criticism. Emotional OE correlated with perfectionism, such as concern over mistakes, doubts about actions, and parental criticism, while Intellectual OE positively correlated with personal standards and negatively with parental criticism. Intellectual and Emotional OEs jointly predicted personal standards and organization; while Sensual, Intellectual, and Emotional OEs predicted doubts about actions, etc. These findings underscore the importance of tailored educational and counseling strategies to address the unique needs of gifted students, fostering environments that enhance their abilities and overall well-being. Full article

The susceptibility of athletes to experience of emotional and psychological difficulties arising from the pressure and expectations associated with achieving and maintaining high performance can become a vulnerability in the desire to achieve success in sport. This study aims to investigate the protective value in the perception of satisfaction in basic psychological needs against the vulnerability that perfectionism generates in the appearance of reactivity linked to fear of failure. A cross-sectional, relational, and semi-randomized research design was used, applying perfectionism, fear of failure, and basic psychological needs measures adapted to both the competitive sports context and the Spanish language in a sample of 372 young Spanish athletes, under descriptive analyses and predictive models. The results showed that as the age of the participants increased, the indicators of perfectionism and fear of failure decreased, with no gender differences. The results offer and confirm the positive relationships between the dimensions of perfectionism and fear of making mistakes (where processes such as self-devaluation and fear of failing the people that participants deemed as important to them are intertwined). The perception of satisfaction of the basic psychological needs of autonomy, social relationships, and competence emerges as protective factors that mediate the perfectionism–fear of failure relationship. On the other hand, discrepancies are shown between the perfectionist dimensions concerning the relationships with the BPNs, describing certain sources of vulnerability, although there are adjustments of mental effort and discomfort in the young athletes. The conclusions offer the opportunity to investigate the aspects that facilitate the emergence of fear of failure in young athletes, mainly the performance of coaches connected to the emergence of patterns in pursuit of perfection. Full article

The aim of the present study is to explore the relationships between cognitive–behavioral patterns of perfectionism in the context of competitive sport and both prosociality and aggressiveness in a sample of adolescents competing in federated sports. A cross-sectional and non-randomized study was designed using a selective methodology on a sample of adolescents (N = 234) competing in federated sports. Scales to assess aggressiveness, perfectionism, prosocial behavior, and competitiveness were administrated. The results show that as age increases, prosocial behaviors increase and aggressive behaviors and competitiveness decrease, while there was no one significant perfectionist tendency. Competitiveness showed a direct relationship with aggressive (positive) and prosocial behaviors (negative). Self-oriented perfectionistic behavior showed a direct and significant relationship with prosocial behaviors, but no significant relationship with aggressive responses. As P-SP and P-OD tendencies increased, significantly smaller links were shown with prosocial behaviors, but greater links were shown with aggressive behaviors. A path (mediation) model showed a positive and predictive relationship with aggressive behaviors and a negative relationship with prosocial altruistic behaviors. The negative influence of criticism from significant figures in their environment and unrealistic expectations about their performance are relevant to difficulties in self-regulating social relationships in adolescents. Hence, it is a challenge to promote prosocial resources (as a protective value for aggressive behaviors) in the face of the early angst of young athletes, who put their maturity to the test under conditions of high pressure and demands. The present study continues to reinforce the line drawn on perfectionism and prosocial development in young people in sports contexts where young people, measured early on according to their performance, can accentuate and deepen competitive tendencies that alter their adaptive and self-regulatory capacities, as well as their psychosocial projection. Full article

The purpose of this study was to explore a biopsychosocial profile for experiencing sexual harassment and abuse in sports. A qualitative approach was used; data were collected from semi-structured in-depth interviews covering seven cases of sexual harassment and abuse in sports in the Netherlands. The interview transcripts were analysed and aligned with the biopsychosocial model. The results reveal biological (i.e., aged under 18, sex, and sexual orientation), psychological (i.e., high degree of naivety, altruism and agreeableness, low self-esteem, perfectionism, emotional or disorders) and social factors (i.e., poor or negative relationship with parents, social pressure to perform, incest at home, social isolation, elite sports and too much power of a single trainer/coach) that can contribute to the risk of experiencing sexual harassment and abuse in sports. These findings provide important directions for prevention and recognition in sports practice and future research. Full article

Compulsive overworking and eating disorders (EDs) show considerable similarities in terms of risk factors (e.g., rigid perfectionism), clinical manifestation (e.g., excessive controlling behaviors), and consequences (e.g., physical exhaustion and depression). This study aimed to examine the hypotheses that compulsive study behaviors (conceptualized as study addiction) are related to EDs and that they have independent negative effects on well-being among young musicians, who constitute a highly vulnerable population for these types of problematic behaviors. The relatively high prevalence of study addiction and its pronounced negative relationship with psychosocial functioning make it a pending challenge for sustainable education. A total of 255 students from various music academies in Poland took part in the study. The Bergen Study Addiction Scale, assessing compulsive studying (conceptualized as addictive behavior), the Eating Attitude Test-26 (EAT-26), the Perceived Stress Scale, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the quality-of-life measure were used. A structural equation model was investigated. Study addiction was positively related to the general factor of EDs and the social pressure component. Both problematic behaviors showed negative and independent effects on the well-being of young musicians. EDs may be 8 to 16 times more prevalent among the students of music academies who are addicted to studying than among the general population. About 80% of those students showing all seven symptoms of study addiction exhibited at least mild depression, while more than half had clinically significant levels of depression. Almost 90% had clinically significant levels of anxiety. Without addressing co-occurring study addiction and eating disorders, including their commonalities and idiosyncrasies, their prevention and treatment cannot be effective and it will substantially affect the sustainability of education and work. Full article

The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships among mood states, perfectionism, and choking, and to identify a mediating effect of perfectionism on the relationship between mood states and choking experienced by Asian university baseball players in extremely stressful situations during a game. Data collected from a total of 209 male university baseball players were analyzed using SPSS 21 and AMOS 21 statistical software. The mean age of study subjects was 20.25 years. Results are as follows. First, mood states had a positive influence on perfectionism. Second, mood states had no significant influence on choking. Third, perfectionism had a positive influence on choking. Lastly, perfectionism had a complete mediating effect on the relationship between mood states and choking. The study findings will provide basic data to relieve athletes’ psychological burdens, and prevent manifestations of extreme perfectionism and choking, which can ultimately help athletes maintain high self-control of their mood states and perfectionism for better performance. Full article

In sports, one of the social agents who can pressure an athlete for perfection in their performance is their coach. However, perfectionism has many potential negative consequences such as excessive concerns over even minor mistakes. The purpose of this study is to test a sequential model: the motivational context (i.e., task- and ego-involving climates generated by the coach and a coach’s support for autonomy) and the facets that determine the level of perfectionism exhibited as a trait (i.e., perceived coach pressure—a facet of socially prescribed perfectionism—and concerns over mistakes—a facet of self-oriented perfectionism). The sample included 317 athletes (133 boys and 184 girls) aged between 10 and 14 years, who answered a battery of questionnaires that evaluated an athlete’s perception of their motivational climate, their perception of support for autonomy, their perceived coach pressure and their concerns over mistakes. Using the structural equations model, the results showed that the task-involving climate was negatively correlated with perceived coach pressure, whereas the ego-involving climate and support for autonomy were positively correlated with perceived coach pressure and were positively correlated with concerns over mistakes. Finally, perceived coach pressure did not influence concerns over mistakes from the motivational context. This study highlights the importance of considering motivational contexts as important motivational elements of perfectionism in youth sports. Full article

Coaching athletes is highly rewarding yet stressful, especially at the elite level where media, fans, and sponsors can contribute to an environment that, if not well-managed by the coach, can lead to burnout. Coaches who display perfectionistic tendencies, such as striving for flawlessness, may be particularly vulnerable—even more so if they are overly critical of themselves and have a tendency to ruminate over their performance, or if they are attempting to convey an image of faultlessness, or both. A total of 272 coaches completed a battery of inventories assessing burnout, perfectionistic thoughts, and the tendency for perfectionistic self-presentation. All variables correlated significantly: coaches with higher scores on exhaustion scored higher both on perfectionistic thoughts and self-presentation. However, when three subscales of perfectionistic self-presentation were considered separately, lower and nonsignificant correlations emerged. We believe that this can be explained by the heterogeneous group of coaches participating in this study. Whereas all coaches may at times ruminate privately—self-oriented perfectionism—about their perceived failure to perform to expectations, not all may feel the pressure to present themselves to others as faultless—a more socially prescribed perfectionism. This finding warrants further investigation, preferably comparing coaches at different levels of public scrutiny. Full article

Perfectionism is a multidimensional personality trait characterized by effort and rigidity in setting high personal standards, accompanied by an excessive tendency toward critical assessments, which plays an important role in cognitive, behavioral, and emotional functioning. During adolescence, personality is built on a fundamental pillar—self-esteem—which plays an important role in sports practice when it comes to achieving the best possible performance. Anger has an emotional component that, interpreted in an unadaptive way, interferes with sports performance. The aim of this study is to assess differences according to self-esteem and perfectionism indicators and anger expression and management in young athletes. The sample included 229 male athletes to the quarries of professional sports with ages between 13 and 17 years. They were administered the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory for Children and Adolescents, the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, and a socio-demographic questionnaire. Predictive analysis showed that low personal standards and high levels of organization (indicators of adaptive perfectionism) acted as predictors of state anger, while those showing high personal standards predicted high anger management in athletes with high self-esteem. High personal standards predicted lower indicators of trait anger in athletes with low self-esteem. The results revealed the influence of high self-esteem as a protective factor in the predictive relationship among anger traits and personal standards. The study describes the relationship of these variables in the belongings of young male footballers (under high sport pressure), showing the need to take care of the athletes’ self-esteem in sport environments through prevention programs that include psychological and social resources training systems. Full article

It has been well-documented that women face pressures to conform to a slim, toned, and athletic body, becoming “tyrannised” by beauty ideals. Under these contemporary ideologies of perfectionism, women are placed under constant surveillance, evaluation and, objectification and are thus reduced to “being” their bodies. However, there is little known about the potential relationships between different types of exercise, body image, and exercise motivation. With this in mind, this paper contributes towards a small but developing body of research that utilises feminist phenomenology to reveal twelve women’s early embodied motivations for exercising and draws upon material gathered from a three-year ethnography into the embodied experiences of women in fitness cultures. This paper delves into the influences on their continued participation over time and explores how these experiences shape their understandings of the embodied self and the broader constructions of the gendered body. The discussion provided illuminates how early influences on exercise participation and how pressures on women to conform to dominant notions of the “feminine” body are imposed by structural, cultural, historical, and localised forces in ways that affect and shape future physical activity participation, and the physical cultures where these tensions are played out. Full article

The "pressure of the trainer" subscale of Multidimensional Inventory or Perfectionism in Sport, measures the tendency of athletes to perceive their coaches as sources of pressure to obtain a certain level of performance. The purpose of this study was to translate into Spanish spoken in Mexico eight items, and examine its psychometric properties (factorial validity, reliability, criterion validity). Participated 106 athletes of both sexes with a mean age of 12.5 years (SD=1.72). The results confirmed the unifactorial structure, where six of the eight items were valid for measuring the latent factor. The reliability of the subscale was adequate, and evidence was found from its relationship with other variables, since the coach's pressure was positively related to the fear of failure. In conclusion, this adaptation is valid and reliable after the elimination of two items, and can be used in research within the Mexican sports context. Full article

Stress as an emotional response with adaptive function can obstruct both academic performance and psychosocial and physiological functioning when it is recurrent, persistent, and intense. Individual characteristics and regular physical activity produce differences in ways of coping with pressure situations, stressing the necessity of teenagers handling them in an effective way for their psychological adjustment and well-being. The purpose of this investigation was to identify how the frequency of physical activity and the influence of certain personality traits (perfectionism and perseverance) moderate stress. The sample was composed of 127 teenage students; tests were administered to measure perfectionism, perseverance, perceived stress, including an ad hoc sociodemographic questionnaire. The results show that particular conditions/skills have a moderating effect on stress perception in students with perfectionist maladaptive tendencies. Training in perseverance allows students to develop resources for handling stress, making it possible to achieve personal standards as well as adapt to one’s context. Full article