engleski

Perfectionism and life satisfaction

The construct of perfectionism has been receiving increased attention in the psychological literature in recent years. Most often it has been conceptualized as a personality variable that underlies a variety of psychological difficulties (Bieling, Israeli and Antony, 2003). Recently, however, theorists and researchers have begun to distinguish between two distinct types of perfectionism, one a maladaptive form that results in emotional distress, and a second form that is relatively benign, perhaps even adaptive. The present study investigated the possibility to distinguish two aspects of perfectionism on the basis of their different relationship with measures of psychological well-being. A 40-item perfectionism scale (PANPS, Terry-Short et al., 1995) and a short 5-item instrument designed to measure global cognitive judgments of satisfaction with one's life (SWLS, Ed Diener et al., 1985) were administered to a sample of 648 high school students. As expected, all items of Satisfaction with Life Scale were positively associated with positive, and negatively associated with negative perfectionism scale. Canonical correlation analysis yielded one significant function (canonical r=0.42, df=10, p<.001) mostly defined by relationship between negative perfectionism score and a item measuring general life satisfaction. This study supports the validity of a distinction between two types of perfectionism defined in terms of a Dual Process Model of Perfectionism (Terry-Short, Owens, Slade, and Dewey, 1995) and shows the importance of measuring perfectionism as a multidimensional construct.

positive and negative perfectionism; well-being; life satisfaction

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