Factor structure and psychometric properties of a Polish adaptation of the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale

Konrad Piotrowski,Agnieszka Bojanowska

doi:10.1007/s12144-019-00198-w

Konrad Piotrowski, Agnieszka Bojanowska

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00198-w

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Abstract

The Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS) is one of the most popular questionnaires for measuring perfectionism. Although this scale is in common use, its psychometric parameters still remain in dispute. The aim of this article is to present the Polish adaptation of the FMPS in a non-clinical sample. 696 university students aged 18 to 42 (M = 26.74, SD = 7.56) took part in the study. Confirmatory Factor Analyses suggested that the most appropriate factor structure of the adapted version of the FMPS contains 5 correlated factors: CM (concerns over mistakes), DAA (doubts about actions), PE (parental expectations), PC (parental criticism), and PS (personal standards). The ORG (organization) subscale was removed after evaluation. The evaluation of the specific relationships of each dimension of the adapted version of the FMPS with shame, guilt, worry, rumination, and indecisiveness revealed that when controlling for the variances of the remaining dimensions, significant relationships occurred almost only in the case of the CM, DAA and PS scales, suggesting that they constitute the three core facets of perfectionism as measured by the FMPS.

Highlights

Perfectionism is a personality style characterized by setting for oneself very high, often unrealistic, standards and expectations and striving to realize them flawlessly
Perfectionism was treated as a unidimensional construct and it was considered to be a significant predictor of psychopathology, which was mainly a result of the observation that high levels of this characteristic could be observed in patients who experienced such mental difficulties as depression, eating disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder (Burns 1980; Pacht 1984)
Before the results of the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were analysed the data was inspected in order to identifying multivariate outliers

Summary

Introduction

Perfectionism is a personality style characterized by setting for oneself very high, often unrealistic, standards and expectations and striving to realize them flawlessly. This predisposition is usually accompanied by a tendency to be overly critical of oneself and by subordinating the evaluation of oneself to the achievement of these standards (Fleet and Hewitt 2002; Stoeber and Otto 2006). Since the 1990s there have started to appear new multidimensional models of perfectionism. Personal standards and Organization in the majority of cases turned out to be related to indicators of good adjustment, in the form of positive affect, conscientiousness and active coping styles, whereas the remaining dimensions, especially CM and DAA, proved to be associated with such difficulties as depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, negative affect, shame, and guilt (Ashby et al 2006; Stoeber et al 2007; Stoeber and Otto 2006)

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