Perfectionism In Sport Research Articles

Parental conditional regard and the development of perfectionism in adolescent athletes: The mediating role of competence contingent self-worth.

Despite evidence highlighting the debilitating nature of perfectionism in sport, few studies have examined how it develops. In explaining the development of perfectionism, theorists emphasize controlling parental practices in family contexts replete with conditional regard. This study, then, tested the role of parental conditional regard in the development of perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns among adolescent athletes. It also tested the mediating role of competence contingent self-worth in these associations. One hundred and forty-eight (Mage = 15.12 years, SD = 1.64) adolescent athletes competing at the regional level or above in their primary sport completed measures of multidimensional perfectionism, competence contingent self-worth, and parental conditional regard. In line with hypotheses, structural equation modeling showed that perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns were positively predicted by parental conditional regard. As expected, competence contingent self-worth mediated both relationships. The findings are the first to suggest that conditional regard from parents is important in the development of perfectionism among adolescent athletes because these behaviors contribute to contingencies of self-worth that are based on competence.

Versión en español de la subescala presión del entrenador del MIPS: Propiedades psicométricas

La subescala “presión del entrenador” del Multidimensional Inventory or Perfectionism in Sport, mide las tendencias de los deportistas de percibir a sus entrenadores como fuentes de presión para obtener cierto nivel de rendimiento perfecto. El propósito de este estudio fue traducir al español hablado en México los ocho ítems de la subescala presión del entrenador, y examinar sus propiedades psicométricas (validez factorial, fiabilidad, validez convergente, validez de criterio). Participaron 106 deportistas de ambos sexos con una edad promedio de 12.5 años (DT=1.72). El análisis factorial confirmatorio apoyó la estructura unifactorial, donde seis de los ocho ítems fueron válidos para medir el factor latente. La fiabilidad demostró fuerte consistencia interna; y la presión del entrenador se relacionó positivamente con el miedo a fallar, mostrando el patrón de correlación esperada. En conclusión, esta adaptación es válida y confiable tras la eliminación de dos ítems, y puede ser utilizada en la investigación dentro del contexto deportivo mexicano.

Socially Prescribed Perfectionism Might Predict Enhanced Performance When Racing Against an Opponent

Recent research has shown that racing against an opponent can improve endurance exercise performance (Konings et al, 2016). To what extent athletes can be motivated by racing against an adversary might depend at least partially on personality characteristics such as type of perfectionism. PURPOSE: We sought to explore the relationship between self-oriented (SO) and socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP) (Hewitt & Flett, 1991) and time-trial performance. We hypothesized that SPP would be related to performance enhancements associated with the presence of an opponent, but that SO would not. METHODS: Twelve experienced cyclists (45.8 ± 7.0 years) completed four 4-km time trials (TT) on a VeloTron cycle ergometer. Participants performed three TTs without opponent (TT1no, TT2no, TT3no) and one TT against a virtual opponent (TTopp). Mean performance on the three trials without an opponent was calculated and the difference (ΔTTno-TTopp) between the resulting “meanTTno” and TTopp was assessed for each participant. Participants also answered the 12-item “perfectionism in sport scale” (PPS-P) (Hill et al., 2016) on a 6-point Likert scale before the first race. Spearman correlations of the participants’ mean scores on the PPS-P and ΔTTno-TTopp were calculated. RESULTS: Overall, there was no significant difference in performances over the 4 trials: T1 = 385.86 ±18.07s; T2 = 380.31 ± 20.75s; TTno = 377.66 ± 17.40s and TTopp 378.86 ± 19.68s. Mean score on PPS-P was 4.29 ± 0.96 for SO and 2.83 ± 0.91 for SPP. A significant positive correlation was found between SPP and ΔTTno-TTopp (ρ = 0.867, p < 0.01), but we found no relationship between SO and ΔTTno-TTopp. CONCLUSION: Previous studies have shown that being confronted with a (virtual) opponent enhances endurance athletes’ performance. In the present group of cyclists, overall 4-km performances with and without opponent did not differ significantly. Interestingly, our results show that the performance enhancing effect of a virtual opponent during a 4 km cycling trial is correlated to socially prescribed perfectionism in sport. These findings support current literature and our hypothesis that the positive effect of racing against an opponent might differ according to athletes’ psychological characteristics.

Perfectionism and depressive symptoms: The effects of psychological detachment from work

We examined the association of perfectionism with depressive symptoms and tested whether psychological detachment from work would both mediate and moderate the association. The participants were 76 primary school teachers (87% female) who responded to measures of perfectionism (Multidimensional Inventory on Perfectionism in Sports adapted for teachers), psychological detachment from work (The Recovery Experience Questionnaire), and depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory-II). Perfectionism comprised both adaptive and maladaptive dimensions. Adaptive perfectionism referred to striving for perfection, whereas maladaptive perfectionism involved negative reactions to imperfection and perceived pressure to be perfect. According to our results, negative reactions to imperfection were associated with higher depressive symptoms, and lower level of psychological detachment from work played a minor mediating role in the association. There was, however, no association between negative reactions to imperfection and higher depressive symptoms when detachment from work was high. Our findings suggest that striving for perfection and perceived pressure to be perfect might not contribute to depressive symptoms in teaching. Instead, teachers experiencing negative reactions to imperfection and low psychological detachment from work could be at risk for developing depressive symptoms. Finding ways to psychologically detach from work may benefit teachers characterized by negative reactions to imperfection.

A multi-sample investigation of the higher-order latent dimensionality of the Sport-Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale-2

ObjectiveExamine the higher-order latent dimensionality of the Sport-Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale-2 (Sport-MPS-2: Gotwals & Dunn, 2009). DesignCorrelational. MethodA total of 1605 athletes (562 female) from eight independent samples completed the Sport-MPS-2. Athletes in one sample (n = 239) also completed a portion of the Multidimensional Inventory of Perfectionism in Sport (MIPS: Stoeber, Otto, & Stoll, 2006). The correlation matrices among the Sport-MPS-2 subscales for five samples were analyzed with exploratory factor analyses. The covariance matrices for the subscales in the three remaining samples (including the sample that completed the MIPS) were analyzed with confirmatory factor analyses and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM: Asparouhov & Muthén, 2009). ResultsTwo highly interpretable factors—labelled Perfectionistic Strivings and Perfectionistic Concerns—were obtained for each data set. ConclusionTheorists note the importance of using multiple indicators to measure perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns in sport. The current factor-analytic and ESEM results indicate that the six subscales comprising the Sport-MPS-2 may help to achieve this objective.

Motivation Mediates the Perfectionism-Burnout Relationship: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study With Junior Athletes.

Perfectionism in sports has been shown to predict longitudinal changes in athlete burnout. What mediates these changes over time, however, is still unclear. Adopting a self-determination theory perspective and using a three-wave longitudinal design, the current study examined perfectionistic strivings, perfectionistic concerns, autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and athlete burnout in 141 junior athletes (mean age = 17.3 years) over 6 months of active training. When multilevel structural equation modeling was employed to test a mediational model, a differential pattern of between- and within-person relationships emerged. Whereas autonomous motivation mediated the negative relationship that perfectionistic strivings had with burnout at the between- and within-person level, controlled motivation mediated the positive relationship that perfectionistic concerns had with burnout at the between-persons level only. The present findings suggest that differences in autonomous and controlled motivation explain why perfectionism predicts changes in athlete burnout over time.

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Multidimensional Inventory of Perfectionism in Sport

Objectives and methodThe Multidimensional Inventory of Perfectionism in Sport (MIPS; Stoeber, Otto, & Stoll, 2006) is a commonly used measure of perfectionism in sport. However, there is limited empirical evidence supporting its subscale structure and composition. Therefore, the present study investigated the factor structure of the MIPS in a sample of 470 athletes (mean age 20.0 years). ResultsConfirmatory factor analysis showed that the data supported the hypothesized four-factor structure of the MIPS, differentiating: striving for perfection, negative reactions to imperfection, parental pressure to be perfect, and coach pressure to be perfect. ConclusionsThe findings suggest that the MIPS has acceptable factorial validity and therefore may be a useful measure to explore individual differences in perfectionism in sport.

Perfectionism and Burnout in Junior Athletes: A Three-Month Longitudinal Study.

Perfectionism in sports has been shown to be associated with burnout in athletes. Whether perfectionism predicts longitudinal changes in athlete burnout, however, is still unclear. Using a two-wave cross-lagged panel design, the current study examined perfectionistic strivings, perfectionistic concerns, and athlete burnout in 101 junior athletes (mean age 17.7 years) over 3 months of active training. When structural equation modeling was employed to test a series of competing models, the best-fitting model showed opposite patterns for perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns. Whereas perfectionistic concerns predicted increases in athlete burnout over the 3 months, perfectionistic strivings predicted decreases. The present findings suggest that perfectionistic concerns are a risk factor for junior athletes contributing to the development of athlete burnout whereas perfectionistic strivings appear to be a protective factor.

Are perfectionistic strivings in sport adaptive? A systematic review of confirmatory, contradictory, and mixed evidence.

A controversial issue in sport perfectionism research concerns the degree to which athletes’ perfectionistic tendencies are adaptive or maladaptive. Insight into this issue can be obtained by distinguishing between two perfectionism dimensions: perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns. Past narrative reviews concede that perfectionistic concerns are maladaptive in sport, but offer contrasting conclusions about whether athletes’ perfectionistic strivings are adaptive or maladaptive (see Flett & Hewitt, 2005; Hall, 2006; Stoeber, 2011). To address this discrepancy, this review systematically documented, categorised, and quantitatively analysed 201 correlations from 31 studies on perfectionism in athletes. When bivariate correlations were regarded, the proportion of evidence associating perfectionistic strivings with adaptive characteristics in sport was slightly greater than the proportion of evidence associating the dimension with maladaptive characteristics in sport. When partial correlations were regarded (i.e., correlations that controlled for overlap with perfectionistic concerns), a clear majority of evidence associated perfectionistic strivings with adaptive characteristics and only a small minority associated it with maladaptive characteristics. Across both instances, though, considerable evidence (as represented by nonsignificant correlations) associated perfectionistic strivings with neither adaptive nor maladaptive characteristics. Collectively, these findings suggest that perfectionistic strivings among athletes are predominantly adaptive, occasionally neutral, and rarely maladaptive. However, this trend is only apparent when the negative influence of perfectionistic concerns is controlled. Implications of these findings on future research directions and applied sport psychology practice are discussed.

Domain-specific perfectionism in intercollegiate athletes: Relationships with perceived competence and perceived importance in sport and school

ObjectivesTo examine the domain-specific nature of perfectionism in sport and school, and to examine potential links between domain-specific perceived competence, perceived importance (task value), and perfectionism in sport and school. Design and MethodA total of 255 male and female varsity student-athletes from a successful intercollegiate sport program completed domain-specific (i.e., sport and school) versions of Hewitt and Flett's (1991) Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (HF-MPS). Participants also completed an inventory designed to assess perceived competence (PC) in sport versus school and perceived importance (PI) of success in sport versus school. ResultsExploratory factor analyses conducted on perfectionism data indicated that perfectionist orientations were organized around domain-specific as opposed to global perfectionist tendencies. Regression analyses indicated that PC was a significant predictor of domain-specific levels of self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism (ps < .05), and PI was a significant predictor of domain-specific levels of self-oriented, socially prescribed, and other-oriented perfectionism (ps < .001). A repeated-measures MANOVA revealed that student-athletes had significantly higher levels of perfectionism in sport than school (ps < .0001) across all three HF-MPS subscales. ConclusionResults reinforce the value of measuring perfectionism as a domain-specific (rather than global) personality disposition, and identify the potential role that perceived competence and perceived importance may play in the development of domain-specific perfectionism.

Perfectionistic Profiles Among Elite Athletes and Differences in Their Motivational Orientations

Although there is an emerging body of research that has examined perfectionistic clusters in the general population, few studies have explored such profiles in athlete samples. The purposes of this research were to explore perfectionistic profiles within a sample of elite athletes and the differences between them on key motivational variables. A sample of 423 elite athletes (179 males, 244 females) aged between 14 and 66 years (M = 25.64; SD = 8.57) from a variety of team (e.g., rowing, hockey, baseball, rugby) and individual sports (e.g., cycling, athletics, triathlon, gymnastics) completed a multisection questionnaire including measures of sport perfectionism, motivation regulation, achievement goals, and fear of failure. Cluster analyses revealed the existence of three perfectionism profiles, namely, nonperfectionists, maladaptive perfectionists, and adaptive perfectionists. Subsequent analyses generally supported the robustness of these perfectionism profiles in terms of differential motivational orientations (achievement goals, fear of failure, and motivation regulation) in hypothesized directions. Overall, the differences in motivational orientations between the three clusters supported a categorical conceptualization of perfectionism.

Perfectionism and Burnout Within Intercollegiate Sport: A Person-Oriented Approach

This study investigates the functional nature of perfectionism in sport through a person-oriented comparison of healthy and unhealthy perfectionist athletes’ levels of burnout. A sample of 117 intercollegiate varsity student-athletes (M age = 21.28 years, SD = 2.05) completed measures that assessed multidimensional sport-based perfectionism and athlete burnout indices (i.e., reduced accomplishment, sport devaluation, and emotional/physical exhaustion). Cluster analysis revealed that the sample could be represented by four theoretically meaningful clusters: Parent-Oriented Unhealthy Perfectionists, Doubt-Oriented Unhealthy Perfectionists, Healthy Perfectionists, and Non-Perfectionists. Intercluster comparisons revealed that healthy perfectionists reported (a) lower levels on all athlete burnout indices in comparison with both doubt-oriented unhealthy perfectionists and nonperfectionists and (b) lower levels of emotional/physical exhaustion in comparison with parent-oriented unhealthy perfectionists (all ps &lt; .05). The degree to which findings fit within perfectionism/burnout theory and can serve as an example for research with enhanced relevancy to applied sport psychology contexts is discussed.

The dual nature of perfectionism in sports: relationships with emotion, motivation, and performance

Perfectionism is a prevalent characteristic in athletes. Yet some researchers have argued that perfectionism in sports is maladaptive because it undermines athletes’ performance and stifles athletic development. This argument, however, neglects that perfectionism is a multidimensional characteristic and that only some dimensions of perfectionism are clearly maladaptive, whereas others are not. This review argues that perfectionism is comprised of two main dimensions – perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns (Stoeber & Otto, 2006) – that show different and unique patterns of relationships with athletes’ emotions, motivation, and performance. In support of this argument the review will present findings indicating that only perfectionistic concerns show unique positive relationships with competitive anxiety, fear of failure, and avoidance goal orientations. In contrast, perfectionistic strivings show unique positive relationships with self-confidence, hope of success, approach goal orientations, and performance in training and competitions. The findings suggest that only perfectionistic concerns are clearly maladaptive, whereas perfectionistic strivings may form part of a healthy striving for excellence. Implications for applied sport psychology are discussed as are open questions for future research.

Conceptualizing Maladaptive Sport Perfectionism as a Function of Gender

The purpose of the present study was to conceptualize maladaptive forms of sport perfectionism by determining the factors (and items within each factor) that best describe this construct among skilled male and female athletes. The sample consisted of 217 undergraduate student athletes ranging in age from 19 to 33 years. A theory-driven four-factor, 18-item Likert-type scale, called the Sport Perfectionism Inventory (SPI), was generated for this study. The factors, each reflecting maladaptive perfectionism to an excessive degree, included the following: concern over mistakes (CM), self-criticism (SC), personal standards (PS), and negative feedback (NF). Results showed that the items were generalizable for both genders, and all correlations between factors in the scale were significant. It was concluded that these dimensions depicted maladaptive sport perfectionism as a function of gender.

Establishing validity evidence for the Sport Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale-2 in intercollegiate sport

Objectives The purpose of the two studies presented in this paper is to establish validity evidence for the Sport Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale-2 (Sport-MPS-2: Gotwals & Dunn, 2009). Studies 1 and 2 are respectively focused on the production of structurally-related and external validity evidence. Methods In Study 1, 263 male and female intercollegiate volleyball players ( M age = 19.98 years) completed the Sport-MPS-2. In Study 2, 181 male intercollegiate ice hockey players ( M age = 22.16 years) responded to the Sport-MPS-2, the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale ( Frost, Marten, Lahart, & Rosenblate, 1990), and a modified Sport Anxiety Scale ( Smith, Smoll, & Schutz, 1990). Results Exploratory factor analysis results in Study 1 revealed supportive structurally-related validity evidence for the six factors of the Sport-MPS-2. Study 2 generated supportive external validity evidence by producing anticipated moderate to large positive correlations between conceptually analogous Sport-MPS-2 and Frost-MPS subscales (all ps < .001), using canonical correlation to demonstrate that the Sport-MPS-2 was able to represent theory-based relationships between perfectionism and competitive trait anxiety (CTA), and indicating that the Sport-MPS-2—but not the Frost-MPS—was capable of identifying an anticipated link between healthy perfectionism and CTA. Conclusions Results provide support for the continued use of the Sport-MPS-2 as a measure of multidimensional perfectionism in sport.

Validation of the French version of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 Revised (CSAI-2R) including frequency and direction scales

Objectives The main purpose of the present study was to evaluate the validity and the reliability of the French version of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 Revised (CSAI-2R) including direction and frequency scales. Method Six hundred and forty two male and female athletes competing in different individual and team sports participated in the study. Data were analysed with reliability and confirmatory factor analyses as well as with correlational analyses. Design Cross-sectional with self-reported questionnaires. Results Confirmatory factor analyses showed acceptable fits of the data for the 3-factor models (somatic anxiety, cognitive anxiety and self-confidence) of the intensity, direction, and frequency scales, and a good fit of the data for the hypothesized 9-factor model (i.e., including the three scales). Results provided evidence for the relative superiority of a model of the French CSAI-2R in which the somatic anxiety item 1 was discarded. The pattern of inter-scale correlations between the different subscales was in line with the results reported by the literature and suggested not including the self-confidence direction subscale because it might measure the same concept as the self-confidence intensity subscale. The patterns of relationships between the Sport Anxiety Scale, the Sport-Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Sport-MPS) and the three scales of the CSAI-2R provided evidence for the criterion-related validity of the French CSAI-2R. Conclusion This study provided support for the reliability and validity of the French version of the CSAI-2R including direction and frequency scales. Competitive state anxiety is significantly associated with competitive trait anxiety and sport perfectionism.

Perfectionism and achievement goals in young Finnish ice-hockey players aspiring to make the Under-16 national team

Research on perfectionism suggests that is it useful to differentiate between perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns. Regarding the 2 × 2 achievement goal framework, the usefulness of this differentiation was recently demonstrated in a study with university student athletes (Stoeber, Stoll, Pescheck, & Otto, 2008, Study 2), in which it was found that perfectionistic strivings were associated with mastery-approach and performance-approach goals and perfectionistic concerns with mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals. Because the study was largely exploratory and only used non-elite athletes, the aim of the present research was to replicate and extend these findings by investigating a sample of 138 young, elite ice-hockey players, while adding further measures of perfectionism and using structural equation modelling (SEM) to confirm the relationships between perfectionistic strivings, perfectionistic concerns, and the 2 × 2 achievement goals. The SEM results showed that, in elite athletes also, perfectionistic strivings are associated with mastery-approach and performance-approach goals, whereas perfectionistic concerns are associated with mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals. Our findings corroborate the importance of differentiating between perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns when studying perfectionism in sports, because only perfectionistic concerns (and not perfectionistic strivings) are associated with maladaptive patterns of achievement goals.

Perfectionism, achievement motives, and attribution of success and failure in female soccer players

While some researchers have identified adaptive perfectionism as a key characteristic to achieving elite performance in sport, others see perfectionism as a maladaptive characteristic that undermines, rather than helps, athletic performance. Arguing that perfectionism in sport contains both adaptive and maladaptive facets, the present article presents a study of N = 74 female soccer players investigating how two facets of perfectionism-perfectionistic strivings and negative reactions to imperfection (Stoeber, Otto, Pescheck, Becker, & Stoll, 2007 )-are related to achievement motives and attributions of success and failure. Results show that striving for perfection was related to hope of success and self-serving attributions (internal attribution of success). Moreover, once overlap between the two facets of perfectionism was controlled for, striving for perfection was inversely related to fear of failure and self-depreciating attributions (internal attribution of failure). In contrast, negative reactions to imperfection were positively related to fear of failure and self-depreciating attributions (external attribution of success) and inversely related to self-serving attributions (internal attribution of success and external attribution of failure). It is concluded that striving for perfection in sport is associated with an adaptive pattern of positive motivational orientations and self-serving attributions of success and failure, which may help athletic performance. In contrast, negative reactions to imperfection are associated with a maladaptive pattern of negative motivational orientations and self-depreciating attributions, which is likely to undermine athletic performance. Consequently, perfectionism in sport may be adaptive in those athletes who strive for perfection, but can control their negative reactions when performance is less than perfect.

Rasch calibration of a unidimensional perfectionism inventory for sport

Objective The purposes of this study were to generate and calibrate a unidimensional sports perfectionism scale for competitive athletes using the Rasch model, and validate the scale through the convergent and known-difference validity approach. Method The instrument, called the Sport Perfectionism Scale ( SPS), was administered to 323 undergraduate students at a university in the southeastern U.S., ranging in age from 17 to 44 yrs, who previously competed on their high school team or currently compete at the intercollegiate level. Results Using the Rasch model, the level of item difficulty (i.e., most and least difficult) and the athlete's level (i.e., intensity) of perfectionism were estimated. Model-data fit was determined by Infit and Outfit statistics (≥0.5 and ≤1.5). With the exception of one item, the model fits the data well. Rasch analysis supported the measure of perfectionism in sport as a unidimensional construct. Data from the SPS were positively related with those from Stoeber, Otto, Pescheck, Becker, and Stoll's ([2007]. Perfectionism and competitive anxiety in athletes: differentiating striving for perfection and negative reactions to imperfection. Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 959–969.) Perfectionism During Competitions measure ( r = 0.63), and there was a significant difference in athlete's perfectionism between levels of competition, F (3, 314) = 5.21, p = 0.002, partial eta-squared, 0.05. This result supports convergent and known-difference evidence of validity for the SPS. Conclusions These results lend credence to using the Rasch model as a unique approach to validate evidence of perfectionism as a unidimensional construct in competitive sport.

An Examination of the Dual Model of Perfectionism and Adolescent Athlete Burnout: A Short-Term Longitudinal Research

The dual model of perfectionism (Slade and Owens, Behav Modificat 22(3):372–390, 1998) is adopted to examine the influence of adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism on adolescent athlete burnout in Taiwan. Participants were 188 high school adolescent student-athletes (M = 16.48, SD = .59). They were administered the Multidimensional Inventory of Perfectionism in Sport (Stoeber et al., Pers Individ Dif 43(1):131–141, 2007) and the Chinese Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ) (Lu et al., Phys Educ J 39(3):83–94, 2006). A field longitudinal design was used. In cross-sectional analyses, hierarchical multiple regressions indicated that adaptive perfectionism negatively predicted athlete burnout while maladaptive perfectionism had an inverse relationship with burnout. However, after controlling for the initial scores of burnout, neither adaptive nor maladaptive perfectionism significantly predicted athlete burnout after a three month interval. Possible mechanisms of this relation, limitations, and practical implications are discussed.