Perfectionism, control, and components of performance anxiety in professional artists

Abstract

The present study tested the hypothesis that perfectionism and personal control are associated with debilitating and facilitating performance anxiety among professional performers. A related goal was to examine how the personality variables were related to indices of performance evaluation and goal satisfaction. A sample of 87 professional performers completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, a measure of personal control, and a measure of debilitating and facilitating performance anxiety. Subjects also provided ratings of somatic performance anxiety, happiness while performing, performance evaluation, and goal satisfaction. The results showed that self-oriented perfectionism, socially prescribed perfectionism, and low personal control were associated with greater debilitating performance anxiety, somatic anxiety, and less goal satisfaction. In addition, hierarchical regression analyses indicated that higher debilitating anxiety and lower facilitating anxiety were a joint function of high self-oriented perfectionism and low personal control. Similarly, it was found that low goal satisfaction was associated jointly with high self-oriented perfectionism and low personal control. The results provide general support for self-regulation models and attest to the importance of perfectionism and personal control as joint contributors to the quality of performance anxiety and goal satisfaction