The purpose of the present study was to create and test a model that (a) illustrated variables influencing the development of perfectionism, and (b) demonstrated how different types of perfectionism may influence the achievement goals of high-ability students. Using a multiple-groups path analysis, the researchers found that parenting style was related to attachment, with authoritative and permissive parenting associated with secure attachment and authoritarian and uninvolved parenting associated with insecure attachment. Attachment, in turn, was related to perfectionism, with insecure attachment associated with either self-oriented or socially prescribed perfectionism. In addition, the model then illustrated that perfectionism would influence achievement goals, with self-oriented perfectionists more likely to set mastery or performance-approach goals, and socially prescribed perfectionists more likely to set performance-approach or performance-avoidance goals. The findings of this study are interpreted in the context of the existing literature, and implications for working with high-ability perfectionistic students are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ainley, M. D. (1993). Styles of engagement with learning: Multidimensional assessment of their relationship with strategy use and school achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 395-405.
2.
Ainsworth, M. (1989). Attachments beyond infancy. American Psychologist, 44, 709-716.
3.
Armsden, G. C., & Greenberg, M. T. (1987). The inventory of parent and peer attachment: Individual differences and their relationship to psychological well-being in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 16, 427-453.
4.
Bartholomew, K., & Horowitz, L. M. (1991). Attachment styles among young adults: A test of a four-category model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 226-244.
5.
Baumrind, D. (1971). Current patterns of parental authority. Developmental Psychology Monograph, 4, 1-103.
6.
Baumrind, D. (1991). The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance use. Journal of Early Adolescence, 11, 56-95.
7.
Blatt, S. J. (1995). The destructiveness of perfectionism: Implications for the treatment of depression. American Psychologist, 50, 1003-1020.
8.
Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss, Vol. 3: Loss. New York: Basic Books.
9.
Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base. New York: Basic Books.
10.
Butler, R. (1992). What young people want to know when: Effects of mastery and ability goals on interest in different kinds of social comparison. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 934-943.
11.
Crowell, J. A., Fraley, R. C., & Shaver, P. R. (1999). Measurement of individual differences in adolescent and adult attachment. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 434-465). New York: Guilford Press.
12.
Dai, D., Moon, S., & Feldhusen, J. (1998). Achievement motivation of gifted students. A social cognitive perspective. Educational Psychologist, 33(2/3), 45-63.
13.
Elliot, A. J. (1994). Approach and avoidance achievement goals: An intrinsic motivation analysis. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
14.
Elliot, A. J. (1997). Integrating the “classic” and “contemporary” approaches to achievement motivation: A hierarchical model of approach and avoidance achievement motivation. In M. Maehr & P. Pintrich (Eds.), Advances in motivation and achievement (Vol. 10, pp. 143-179). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
15.
Elliot, A. J. (1999). Approach and avoidance motivation and achievement goals. Educational Psychologist, 34, 169-189.
16.
Elliot, A. J., & Church, M. (1997). A hierarchical model of approach and avoidance achievement motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 218-232.
17.
Elliot, A., & Harackiewicz, J. (1996). Approach and avoidance achievement goals and intrinsic motivation: A mediational analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 968-980.
18.
Feingold, A. (1994). Gender differences in personality: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 429-456.
19.
Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., & Singer, A. (1995). Perfectionism and parental authority styles. Individual Psychology, 51, 50-60.
20.
Frost, P. O., Lahart, C. M., & Rosenblate, R. (1991). The development of perfectionism: A study of daughters and their parents. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 15, 469-490.
21.
Frost, R. P., Marten, P., Lahart, C., & Rosenblate, R. (1990). The dimensions of perfectionism. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 14, 449-468.
22.
Georgia Department of Education. (2003). Georgia’s 2003 SAT scores show improvement, but still lag behind national pace. Retrieved April 13, 2004, from http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/_documents/curriculum/testing/scores_sat_03.pdf
23.
Grossmann, K., Grossmann, K., & Zimmerman, P. (1999). A wider view of attachment and exploration. In. J. Cassidy & P. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 760-786). New York: Guilford Press.
24.
Hamachek, D. E. (1978). Psychodynamics of normal and neurotic perfectionism. Psychology, 15, 27-33.
25.
Hewitt, P. L., & Flett, G. L. (1991). Perfectionism in the self and social contexts: Conceptualization, assessment, and association with psychopathology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 456-470.
26.
Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indices in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1-55.
27.
Kline, B. E., & Short, E. B. (1991). Changes in emotional resilience: Gifted adolescent females. Roeper Review, 13, 118-121.
28.
Kline, R. B. (1998). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York: Guilford Press.
29.
Maccoby, E. (1990). Gender and relationships: A developmental account. American Psychologist, 45, 513-520.
30.
Maccoby, E., & Martin, J. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family: Parent-child interaction. In E. M. Hetherington (Ed.) & P. H. Mussen (Series Ed.), Handbook of child psychology, Vol. 4: Socialization, personality, and social development (pp. 1-101). New York: Wiley.
31.
Marsh, H. W., Balla, J. R., & Hau, K. T. (1996). An evaluation of incremental fit indices: A clarification of mathematical and empirical properties. In G. A. Marcoullides & R. E. Schumacker (Eds.), Advanced structural equation modeling (pp. 315-353). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
32.
Mueller, R. O. (1996). Basic principles of structural equation modeling. New York: Springer-Verlag.
33.
Parker, W. (1997). An empirical typology of perfectionism in academically talented children. American Educational Research Journal, 34, 545-562.
34.
Pintrich, P. R. (2000). Multiple goals, multiple pathways: The role of goal orientation in learning and achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 3, 544-555.
35.
Rice, K. G., Ashby, J. S., Preusser, K. J. (1996). Perfectionism, relationships with parents, and self-esteem. Individual Psychology, 52, 246-260.
36.
Rice, K. G., & Mirzadeh, S. A. (2000). Perfectionism, attachment, and adjustment. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 47, 238-250.
37.
Roberts, S. M., & Lovett, S. (1984). Examining “F” in gifted: Academically gifted adolescents’ physiological and affective responses to scholastic failure. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 17, 241-259.
38.
Robin, A. L., Koepke, T., & Moye, A. (1990). Multidimensional assessment of parent-adolescent relations. Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2, 451-459.
39.
Schuler, P. A. (2000). Perfectionism in the gifted adolescent. Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, 11, 183-196.
40.
Schunk, D. H. (1991). Self-efficacy and academic motivation. Educational Psychologist, 26, 207-231.
41.
Schunk, D. H., & Swartz, C. W. (1993). Writing strategy instruction with gifted students: Effects of goals and feedback on self-efficacy and skills. Roeper Review, 15, 225-230.
42.
Shaffer, D. R. (2000). Social and personality development. (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.
43.
Speirs Neumeister, K. L. (2004a). Factors influencing the development of perfectionism in gifted college students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 48, 259-274.
44.
Speirs Neumeister, K. L. (2004b). Understanding the relationship between perfectionism and achievement motivation in gifted college students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 48, 219-231.
45.
Weinfield, N., Sroufe, A., Egeland, B., & Carlson, E. (1999). Individual differences in infant-caregiver attachment. In J. Cassidy & P. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 68-88). New York: Guilford Press.
46.
Wong, M. M., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1991). Motivational and academic achievement: The effects of personality traits and the quality of experience. Journal of Personality, 59, 539-574.
47.
Yu, C. Y., & Muthen, B. (2001). Evaluation of model fit indices for latent variable models with categorical and continuous outcomes. Technical report in preparation.
48.
Ziegler, A., Heller, K., & Broome, P. (1996). Motivational preconditions for gifted girls and highly gifted girls in physics. High Ability Studies, 7, 129-143.
