Curtin University Homepage
  • Library
  • Help
    • Admin

    espace - Curtin’s institutional repository

    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Theses
    • View Item
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Theses
    • View Item

    An investigation of positive and negative perfectionism

    16554_EGAN ELEC THESIS.pdf (984.4Kb)
    Access Status
    Open access
    Authors
    Egan, Sarah Jane
    Date
    2005
    Supervisor
    Jan Piek
    Murray Dyck
    Type
    Thesis
    Award
    PhD
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    School
    School of Psychology
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/2147
    Collection
    • Curtin Theses
    Abstract

    Perfectionism has long been recognized as a factor that is central to understanding psychological disorders, as it is significantly higher in the majority of psychological disorders compared to the general population. The construct of perfectionism was examined in this research by exploring differences between positive and negative perfectionism. The literature to date has focused almost exclusively on perfectionism as a maladaptive construct, with little research examining if perfectionism can be a positive factor. The implication of the study was to determine if some factors identified may be potentially important in future treatments targeted towards perfectionism, as there is some evidence to suggest that perfectionism may predict poorer response to standard cognitive behavioural treatment. This research compared three different groups; (i) a clinical group with diagnoses of anxiety and depression (n = 40); (ii) a group of athletes (n = 111) and (iii) a student control group (n = 101). The research consisted of 5 studies. In Study 1, evidence was found for the validity, consistency of factor structure and internal consistency of the Positive and Negative Perfectionism Subscale (PANPS; Terry-Short, Owens, Slade, & Dewey, 1995). In Study 2, clinical participants with a range of diagnoses were found to have significantly higher overall perfectionism and negative perfectionism compared to athletes and controls. Rigidity predicted higher positive perfectionism. Dichotomous thinking accounted for a large proportion of variance in negative perfectionism, and was argued to be an important factor distinguishing between positive and negative perfectionism. In Study 3, positive perfectionism was found to relate to faster performance time in athletes competing in triathlons, and negative perfectionism was not found to impede sporting performance.The Big Five personality domains were investigated in Study 4, and Agreeableness was found to be a significant predictor of negative perfectionism in the clinical group. In comparing clinical and athlete groups, athletes had significantly lower Neuroticism, and higher Extraversion and Conscientiousness. Study 5 was a clinical descriptive study that examined motivation to change and cognitions about failure in a select sample of clinical participants with extreme high scores on negative perfectionism and athletes with extreme low scores. The clinical participants reported many negative consequences, yet despite this recognition, the majority reported they did not wish to change perfectionism. Also, as the level of negative perfectionism increased, the degree of diagnostic comorbidity increased. It was concluded that it may be more useful to distinguish between positive achievement striving and negative perfectionism rather than positive and negative perfectionism. Clinical implications were outlined which included targeting dichotomous thinking and resistance to change in the development of treatments for perfectionism.

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Positive and negative perfectionism and the big five personality factors
      Egan, Sarah; Piek, Jan; Dyck, M. (2015)
      © The Author(s) 2015. Perfectionism has been argued to have both positive and negative aspects. Negative perfectionism has a robust positive correlation with psychopathology. This study explored the personality pattern ...
    • A Clinical Investigation of Motivation to Change Standards and Cognitions about Failure in Perfectionism
      Egan, Sarah; Piek, Jan Patricia; Dyck, M.; Rees, Clare; Hagger, Martin (2013)
      Background: Clinical perfectionism is a transdiagnostic process that has been found to maintain eating disorders, anxiety disorders and depression. Cognitive behavioural models explaining the maintenance of clinical ...
    • The role of dichotomous thinking and rigidity in perfectionism.
      Egan, Sarah; Piek, Jan; Dyck, Murray; Rees, Clare (2007)
      Perfectionism is a complex psychological construct that has been defined in many different ways. Recent conceptualisations of perfectionism have involved dividing the construct into positive and negative components. ...
    Advanced search

    Browse

    Communities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument TypeThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument Type

    My Account

    Admin

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Follow Curtin

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

    CRICOS Provider Code: 00301JABN: 99 143 842 569TEQSA: PRV12158

    Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy statement | Accessibility

    Curtin would like to pay respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which the Perth campus is located, the Whadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation; and on our Kalgoorlie campus, the Wongutha people of the North-Eastern Goldfields.