Perfectionism

Perfectionism Typologies

Various typologies of perfectionism have been proposed. Inherent within this discussion is the implicit understanding that different types of perfectionism are associated with varying attitudes and behaviors. Wayne Parker identified three groups of gifted students: nonperfectionists, healthy perfectionists, and dysfunctional perfectionists. Parker described the nonperfectionists as having low levels of conscientiousness, personal standards, parental expectations, and organization as well as an overall low score on the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS)–Frost, a measure of perfectionism that breaks the construct into six factors: personal standards, organization, concern for mistakes, doubts about actions, parental expectations, and parental criticism. Healthy perfectionists were defined as having minimal concern for mistakes and doubts about actions, low perceptions of parental criticism, high organization, moderate personal standards, and a moderate overall score on the MPS. This group scored lowest on a measure of neuroticism, but highest on extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Finally, Parker described dysfunctional perfectionists as having a high concern for mistakes, personal standards, and doubts about their actions. They perceived their parents as highly critical. They scored the highest on the MPS–Frost, and they scored the highest of all three groups on measures of neurosis and openness to experience, and lowest on agreeableness.

Other research also suggests typology frameworks corroborating Parker's findings of adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism. Kristie Speirs Neumeister used the Hewitt and Flett Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS–Hewitt), a measure that breaks the construct into three factors, including self-oriented (individuals who have excessively high standards for themselves), socially prescribed (those perceiving others to have excessively high expectations for their performance), and other-oriented perfectionism (individuals who have excessively high standards for others) to study gifted college students. She found that those scoring high on socially prescribed perfectionism tended to overgeneralize their failures, adopted performance goals, and perceived their parents as critical. In contrast, although the self-oriented perfectionists expressed frustration with failure, they were also more likely to adopt learning as well as performance goals and to perceive their parents as supportive. These findings support the notion that different types of perfectionism may be related to different perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs among gifted students.

Development

The literature also highlights several influences on the development of perfectionism. These influences include personality, parental modeling and styles, insecure attachment, and lack of challenge.

Prevalence

The results of some studies indicate a higher prevalence of perfectionism among gifted students, while others fail to show differences in the populations. Differences in how perfectionism was measured, the operationalization of giftedness, and the age of the students may account for the conflicting results.

Implications

Researchers have offered suggestions for working with perfectionistic students, including creating a classroom where students are challenged and learn to appreciate mistakes and examining the motives underlying perfectionistic behaviors to determine how to respond. Other suggestions include setting appropriate expectations, being mindful of modeling perfectionism, praising effort rather than ability, and demonstrating unconditional love. Barbara Kerr proposed a counseling strategy for perfectionists to retrain them in positive aspects of nonperfectionism.

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