Perfectionism and depressive affect: the pros and cons of being a perfectionist

Recent research indicates that perfectionism may be best viewed as a number of distinct dimensions which are differentially related to depressive affect. The first hypothesis was that an increasing tendency for individuals to procrastinate because they fear making a mistake (i.e. passive perfectioni...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Personality and individual differences 1999-03, Vol.26 (3), p.549-562
Main Authors: Lynd-Stevenson, Robert M, M. Hearne, Christie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Biological and medical sciences
Depression
depressive affect
Factors
Life stress
Medical sciences
moderator
Moderators
Mood disorders
Perfectionism
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
stressful life events
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Summary:Recent research indicates that perfectionism may be best viewed as a number of distinct dimensions which are differentially related to depressive affect. The first hypothesis was that an increasing tendency for individuals to procrastinate because they fear making a mistake (i.e. passive perfectionism) would be related to higher levels of depressive affect, while an increasing tendency for individuals to strive for achievement (i.e. active perfectionism) would be unrelated to higher levels of depressive affect. The second hypothesis was that passive perfectionism, but not active perfectionism, would moderate the impact of stressful life events upon depressive affect. Both hypotheses were supported. Moreover, higher levels of organisational perfectionism may actually reduce the levels of depressive affect because higher levels of organisational perfectionism were found to correlate with lower levels of depressive affect. Overall, being a perfectionist may be beneficial as well as detrimental when considering the relationship between perfectionism and depressive affect.
ISSN:0191-8869
1873-3549
DOI:10.1016/S0191-8869(98)00170-6