This article introduces a new measure of dispositional perfectionism: the Big Three Perfectionism Scale (BTPS). The BTPS assesses three higher-order global factors (rigid perfectionism, self-critical perfectionism, narcissistic perfectionism) via 10 lower-order perfectionism facets (self-oriented perfectionism, self-worth contingencies, concern over mistakes, doubts about actions, self-criticism, socially prescribed perfectionism, other-oriented perfectionism, hypercriticism, grandiosity, entitlement). The present investigation examined the structure of the BTPS using exploratory factor analysis in Study 1 (288 undergraduates) and confirmatory factor analyses in Study 2 (352 community adults) and Study 3 (290 undergraduates). Additionally, in Study 3 the relationships among the BTPS, other measures of perfectionism, and the five-factor model of personality were investigated. Overall, findings provide first evidence for the reliability and validity of the BTPS as a multidimensional measure of perfectionism.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
2.
AshtonM. C.LeeK. (2007). Empirical, theoretical, and practical advantages of the HEXACO model of personality structure. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11, 150-166.
3.
BeckA. T.DavisD. D.FreemanA. (2014). Cognitive therapy of personality disorders. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
4.
BekesV.DunkleyD. M.TaylorG.ZuroffD. C.LewkowskiM.FoleyJ. E.. . . WestreichR. (2015). Chronic stress and attenuated improvement in depression over 1 year: The moderating role of perfectionism. Behavior Therapy, 46, 478-492.
5.
BlanksteinK. R.DunkleyD. M. (2002). Evaluative concerns, self-critical, and personal standards perfectionism: A structural equation modeling strategy. In FlettG. L.HewittP. L. (Eds.), Perfectionism: Theory, research, and treatment (pp. 285-315). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
6.
BuhrmesterM.KwangT.GoslingS. D. (2011). Amazon’s Mechanical Turk: A new source of inexpensive, yet high-quality, data?Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 3-5.
7.
CohenJ. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 155-159.
8.
ComreyA. L. (1988). Factor-analytic methods of scale development in personality and clinical psychology. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 754-761.
9.
CostaP.McCraeR. (2008). The revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R). In BoyleG.MatthewsG.SaklofskeD. (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of personality theory and assessment: Volume 2—Personality measurement and testing (pp. 179-199). London, England: Sage.
10.
DiBartoloP. M.FrostR. O.ChangP.LaSotaM.GrillsA. E. (2004). Shedding light on the relationship between personal standards and psychopathology: The case for contingent self-worth. Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 22, 237-250.
11.
DunkleyD. M.BlanksteinK. R.HalsallJ.WilliamsM.WinkworthG. (2000). The relation between perfectionism and distress: Hassles, coping, and perceived social support as mediators and moderators. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 47, 437-453.
12.
DunkleyD. M.BlanksteinK. R.MashebR. M.GriloC. M. (2006). Personal standards and evaluative concerns dimensions of “clinical” perfectionism: A reply to Shafran et al. (2002, 2003) and Hewitt et al. (2003). Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 63-84.
13.
DunkleyD. M.ZuroffD. C.BlanksteinK. R. (2003). Self-critical perfectionism and daily affect: Dispositional and situational influences on stress and coping. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 234-252.
14.
FabrigarL. R.WegenerD. T.MacCallumR. C.StrahanE. J. (1999). Evaluating the use of exploratory factor analysis in psychological research. Psychological Methods, 4, 272-299.
15.
FlettG. L.SherryS. B.HewittP. L.NeponT. (2014). Understanding the narcissistic perfectionists among us: Grandiosity, vulnerability, and the quest for the perfect self. In BesserA. (Ed.), Handbook of psychology of narcissism: Diverse perspectives (pp. 43-66). New York, NY: Nova Science.
16.
FrostR. O.MartenP.LahartC.RosenblateR. (1990). The dimensions of perfectionism. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 14, 449-468.
17.
HewittP. L.FlettG. L. (1991). Perfectionism in the self and social contexts: Conceptualization, assessment, and association with psychopathology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 456-470.
HillR. W.McIntireK.BacharachV. R. (1997). Perfectionism and the Big Five factors. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 12, 257-270.
20.
HuL.BentlerP. M. (1998). Fit indices in covariance structure modeling: Sensitivity to underparameterized model misspecification. Psychological Methods, 3, 424-453.
21.
JacksonD. N. (1975). The relative validity of scales prepared by naive item writers and those based on empirical methods of personality scale construction. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 35, 361-370.
22.
KruegerR. F.DerringerJ.MarkonK. E.WatsonD.SkodolA. E. (2013). The Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
23.
MillonT.GrossmanS.MillonC.MeagherS.RamnathR. (2004). Personality disorders in modern life (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
24.
MuthénL.MuthénB. O. (2013). Mplus user’s guide. Los Angeles, CA: Author.
25.
NealisL. J.SherryS. B.Lee-BaggleyD. L.StewartS. H.MacneilM. A. (2016). Revitalizing narcissistic perfectionism: Evidence of reliability and validity of an emerging construct. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 38, 493-504. doi:10.1007/s10862-016-9537-y
26.
NealisL. J.SherryS. B.SherryD. L.StewartS. H.MacneilM. A. (2015). Towards a better understanding of narcissistic perfectionism: Evidence of factorial validity, incremental validity, and mediating mechanisms. Journal of Research in Personality, 57, 11-25.
27.
PaunonenS. V.HaddockG.ForsterlingF.KeinonenM. (2003). Broad versus narrow personality measures and the prediction of behaviour across cultures. European Journal of Personality, 17, 413-433.
28.
PreacherK. J.MacCallumR. C. (2003). Repairing Tom Swift’s electric factor analysis machine. Understanding Statistics, 2, 13-43.
29.
ReiseS. P.WallerN. G.ComreyA. L. (2000). Factor analysis and scale revision. Psychological Assessment, 12, 287-297.
30.
RiceK. G.AshbyJ. S.SlaneyR. B. (2007). Perfectionism and the five-factor model of personality. Assessment, 14, 385-398.
31.
SamejimaF. (1969). Estimation of latent ability using a response pattern of graded scores. Psychometrika Monograph Supplement, 34, 100-114.
32.
SaucierG. (1994). Mini-Markers: A brief version of Goldberg’s unipolar Big-Five markers. Journal of Personality Assessment, 63, 506-516.
33.
SherryS. B.GautreauC. M.MushquashA. R.SherryD. L.AllenS. L. (2014). Self- critical perfectionism confers vulnerability to depression after controlling for neuroticism: A longitudinal study of middle-aged, community-dwelling women. Personality and Individual Differences, 69, 1-4.
34.
SmithG. T.FischerS.FisterS. M. (2003). Incremental validity principles in test construction. Psychological Assessment, 15, 467-477.
35.
SmithM. M.SherryS. B.RnicK.SaklofskeD. H.EnnsM. W.GralnickT. M. (2016). Are perfectionism dimensions vulnerability factors for depressive symptoms after controlling for neuroticism? A meta-analysis of 10 longitudinal studies. European Journal of Personality, 30, 201-212.
36.
StoeberJ. (2014). Multidimensional perfectionism and the DSM-5 personality traits. Personality and Individual Differences, 64, 115-120.
37.
StoeberJ.ChildsJ. H. (2010). The assessment of self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism: Subscales make a difference. Journal of Personality Assessment, 92, 577-585.
38.
StoeberJ.HothamS. (2013). Perfectionism and social desirability: Students report increased perfectionism to create a positive impression. Personality and Individual Differences, 55, 626-629.
39.
StoeberJ.OttoK. (2006). Positive conceptions of perfectionism: Approaches, evidence, challenges. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10, 295-319.
40.
StoeberJ.SherryS. B.NealisL. J. (2015). Multidimensional perfectionism and narcissism: Grandiose or vulnerable?Personality and Individual Differences, 80, 85-90.
41.
SturmanE. D.FlettG. L.HewittP. L.RudolphS. G. (2009). Dimensions of perfectionism and self-worth contingencies in depression. Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 27, 213-231.
42.
TabachnickB. G.FidellL. S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
