The goal of the current research was to improve on previous studies by more directly examining the relationship between perfectionism and actual procrastination behaviour. In Study 1, participants (N = 167) were given five minutes to prepare for a verbal analogy test during which time they could complete practice materials or play a computer game. After the first test, participants were randomly assigned to receive positive feedback, negative feedback, or no feedback. They then had a second chance to study or play the computer game before they completed another verbal analogy test. Adaptive perfectionism was a significant predictor of less procrastination behaviour on the initial test although feedback on the first test did not change the subsequent behaviour of adaptive perfectionists. Maladaptive perfectionism was not a significant predictor of procrastination behaviour on the initial task. However, for women who were higher in maladaptive perfectionism, the more upset they were from receiving negative feedback on the first task, the more they increased their procrastination on the second task. The purpose of Study 2 was to examine two potential mechanisms, low performance expectations or mood repair, which may have been responsible for the increase in procrastination behaviour seen in women who were higher in maladaptive perfectionism and upset about receiving negative feedback. Participants (N = 138) all received negative feedback on the first test, which was followed by an optimism prime, positive mood prime, or neutral prime. Participants then were given a second chance to study or play the computer game before they completed another verbal analogy test. The positive mood prime did not have a significant effect on procrastination behaviour. Among women who were lower in adaptive perfectionism, the optimism prime resulted in a decrease in procrastination behaviour for women higher in maladaptive perfectionism and an increase in procrastination behaviour for women lower in maladaptive perfectionism. These findings are discussed in terms of their relevance for the academic outcomes of adaptive and maladaptive perfectionists. / Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2011-09-27 17:57:45.647

Research has argued that perfectionism, as well mood state, can serve to influence the type and amount of information that will be attended to and remembered in one’s surrounding environment. The purpose of the current study was to look at how mood and differing degrees of threat may influence the cognitive processes of individuals higher in perfectionism. Following completion of the perfectionism measures, 121 post-secondary students were exposed to a mood induction as well as a threat condition and then asked to complete three cognitive tasks – d2 test of attention, emotional Stroop, and a recognition task. Results indicated that perfectionism was associated with accuracy and reaction time and this impact differed based on mood and threat. Results also indicated individuals higher in perfectionism had a memory bias towards negative and perfectionistic content, reinforcing the idea that perfectionism has a distinctly cognitive component that impacts how an individual processes incoming information.

Thesis (MPsych)--University of South Australia, 2001.

The relationship between positive and negative perfectionism, and academic achievement, motivation and well-being in tertiary students was investigated. It was hypothesized that higher levels of positive perfectionism would be associated with higher academic achievement, higher achievement motivation, lower levels of depression, anxiety and stress, the use of more adaptive coping strategies, and positive personality variables, compared with negative perfectionists. Additionally, it was hypothesized that higher levels of negative perfectionism would be associated with lower levels of academic achievement, lower achievement motivation, higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress, the use of more maladaptive coping strategies, and negative personality variables. 99 first year tertiary students participated, 71 from the University of Canterbury, and 28 from the Christchurch College of Education. The Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS) was used to measure positive, negative and total levels of perfectionism. The short-form of the Ray Achievement Orientation Scale (Ray AO) was used to measure the level of achievement motivation. The NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI) was used to measure the "Big Five" personality variables (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience). The Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) was used to measure levels of positive and negative affect. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) was used to measure levels of depression, anxiety and stress. The COPE was used to measure the use of functional and dysfunctional coping strategies. Demographic and academic information were obtained from student's academic files. The results indicated that, generally, the hypotheses were correct. Positive perfectionism showed associations with higher academic achievement, higher achievement motivation, positive personality factors, and more use of functional forms of coping, while negative perfectionism showed associations with negative affect, depression, anxiety, stress, negative personality factors, and more use of dysfunctional coping strategies. It is therefore concluded that positive perfectionism can have a positive association with academic achievement, achievement motivation and general well-being, while negative perfectionism can have a negative association with these factors. Many individuals are concerned with meeting high standards for performance. Consequently, the concept of perfectionism has been studied increasingly in the last few decades. The concept has evolved to now being formally defined, theoretically integrated and empirically measured (Flett & Hewitt, 2002a; Flett & Hewitt, 2002b; Rheaume, Freeston, Dugas, Letarte & Ladouceur, 1995).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2007. / Title from title screen (site viewed Apr. 29, 2008). PDF text: xi, 216 p. ; 530 K. UMI publication number: AAT 3283907. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Canterbury, 2005. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-106).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Denver Seminary, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 237-264).

This paper reviews the concept of positive perfectionism as a misnomer that negatively impacts adolescent students. The author acknowledges that the majority of research relative to perfectionism points to a multidimensional orientation of this construct. Often multidimensionality has been used to indicate that perfectionism has both positive and negative applications for individuals (DiBartolo, Li, & Frost, 2008). Primarily a deleterious construct, perfectionism has been strongly associated with psychopathology. The author would like to offer perfectionism as a multidimensional construct that is ultimately maladaptive and harmful. Additionally, the author recommends replacing the term positive perfectionism with the more accurate concept of striving for excellence. This literature review is intended to offer educators, specifically school counselors, insight toward identifying and helping adolescents struggling with perfectionism and well-being. / text

The current study tested a component of the social disconnection model (Hewitt, Flett, Sherry, & Caelian, 2006) by determining whether the interpersonal components of perfectionism and suicide outcomes in youth are mediated by experiences of being bullied, a marker of social disconnection. The perfectionism trait of socially prescribed perfectionism and the perfectionistic self-presentation facets, suicide outcomes, and experiences of being bullied were measured in a heterogeneous sample of 152 psychiatric outpatient youth, aged 8 to 20 (mean = 12.87, SD = 2.97; 83 males, 69 females). The current study found evidence in support of the social disconnection model whereby the perfectionistic self-presentation facet, nondisplay of imperfection, and suicide outcomes were mediated by experiences of being bullied. Implications of self presentational components of perfectionism and social disconnection in suicide outcomes for youth are discussed, in terms of both their conceptual and clinical significance.

This dissertation explores and defends a form of perfectionism, which I call ‘public value perfectionism’. It is an approach that emerges from Sen’s capability critique of Rawls’s doctrine of primary goods and I argue that this form of perfectionism is not only compatible with, but also demanded by, a general defence of liberal neutrality. It is designed to fulfill a demand of justice that is beyond the reach of neutralist tools, yet it belongs within a larger neutralist framework in virtue of being justified by the same types of reasons that support neutralism. One of the main justifications for state neutrality is that it can serve as a means to remove or reduce disadvantage imposed on vulnerable groups. I will argue that in the case of disability limited state perfectionism can serve as a means toward that same goal. The series of arguments that I make to defend public value perfectionism concern issues relevant to debates about neutrality and perfectionism, the metric of advantage, justice and disability, and health resource rationing. These issues each play a role in the argument I develop, which states, simplifying somewhat, that in order for society to make defensible rationing decisions about social spending that aims to reduce disability, we need an approach to advantage—i.e., public value perfectionism—that contains important elements of perfectionism and yet is grounded on neutralist considerations. / Thesis (Ph.D, Philosophy) -- Queen's University, 2009-07-21 10:11:07.921