Evaluative concerns perfectionism and coping with failure: Effects on rumination, avoidance, and acceptance

Abstract

Previous research documented associations between evaluative concerns (EC) perfectionism and emotion-focused coping. However, most research was correlational in nature. The present study, therefore, aimed to investigate the relation between EC perfectionism and 3 types of emotion-focused coping in response to experimentally-induced failure. Participants were 72 young adults (Mage=21.81; SD=6.44) who took part in a tangram puzzle task and who were assigned to either a failure or success condition. A week after the experimental session, we assessed participants' coping reaction to the failure experience with an online questionnaire tapping into rumination, avoidance, and acceptance of the experience. Results showed that EC perfectionism interacted with the experimental manipulation, such that only individuals high on EC perfectionism displayed more rumination and less acceptance after failure (compared to after success). Additionally, individuals with heightened levels of EC perfectionism reported higher levels of avoidance, regardless of the experimental condition. This study yielded experimental confirmation that individuals high on EC perfectionism are more at risk for rumination about and low acceptance of a failure experience.