Abstract
Do perfectionists try harder? Previous research on perfectionism and effort has used self-report items and task performance as indicators of effort. The current study investigated whether individual differences in perfectionism predicted effort-related cardiac activity during a mental effort task. Based on past research that suggests adaptive perfectionism is associated with higher effort, it was hypothesized that self-oriented perfectionism (SOP) would predict increased effort on the task. One hundred and eleven college students completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS) and a self-paced parity task in which they received a small cash reward (3 cents) for each correct response. Impedance cardiography was used to assess autonomic reactivity, and regression models tested whether SOP and socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP) explained autonomic reactivity. Overall, participants showed both sympathetic (faster pre-ejection period; PEP) and parasympathetic activation (elevated high-frequency heart rate variability; HRV) during the task, reflecting higher effort and engagement. Contrary to predictions, individual differences in perfectionism did not moderate cardiac reactivity. These findings draw attention to the importance of assessing physiological components of effort and motivation directly rather than inferring them from task performance or self-reported effort.
Highlights
Perfectionism is a personality construct characterized by having unrealistic performance standards and excessively critical self-evaluations [1]
We examined whether self-oriented perfectionism (SOP) and socially-prescribed perfectionism (SPP) predict decreased effort or increased effort during the task
The predictors were the perfectionism factors (SOP and socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP)) and the physiological baseline value, which was included to control for potential initial-value effects
Summary
Perfectionism is a personality construct characterized by having unrealistic performance standards and excessively critical self-evaluations [1]. Flett, Hewitt, and Guez [27] looked at how maladaptive and adaptive perfectionism interacted with task performance, confidence, and manipulated feedback in predicting systolic blood pressure (SBP), a measure of sympathetic activation [24]. This project showed a relation between perfectionism and sympathetic activation, it did not measure physiological activity during the task. The current study examined effort-related physiological activity in people varying in levels of perfectionism during a self-paced task with a cash incentive for each correct response. As a secondary hypothesis, we expected SOP to predict increased RSA reactivity, indicating a co-activation profile [32,33] and increased self-regulatory control [34], similar to the finding for grit and RSA [25]
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