Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Behavior Modification
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Flett, G. L.
Right arrow Articles by Hewitt, P. L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Flett, G. L.
Right arrow Articles by Hewitt, P. L.
Social Bookmarking
 Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Positive Versus Negative Perfectionism in Psychopathology

A Comment on Slade and Owens's Dual Process Model

Gordon L. Flett

York University

Paul L. Hewitt

University of British Columbia

This article reviews the concepts of positive and negative perfectionism and the dual process model of perfectionism outlined by Slade and Owens (1998). The authors acknowledge that the dual process model represents a conceptual advance in the study of perfectionism and that Slade and Owens should be commended for identifying testable hypotheses and future research directions. However, the authors take issue with the notion that there are two types of perfectionism, with one type of perfectionism representing a "normal" or "healthy" form of perfectionism. They suggest that positive perfectionism is motivated, at least in part, by an avoidance orientation and fear of failure, and recent attempts to define and conceptualize positive perfectionism may have blurred the distinction between perfectionism and conscientiousness. Research findings that question the adaptiveness of positive forms of perfectionism are highlighted, and key issues for future research are identified.

Key Words: perfectionism • motivation • fear of failure • anxiety • psychopathology

Behavior Modification, Vol. 30, No. 4, 472-495 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0145445506288026


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Canadian Journal of School PsychologyHome page
D. Stornelli, G. L. Flett, and P. L. Hewitt
Perfectionism, Achievement, and Affect in Children: A Comparison of Students From Gifted, Arts, and Regular Programs
Canadian Journal of School Psychology, December 1, 2009; 24(4): 267 - 283.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
Canadian Journal of School PsychologyHome page
G. L. Flett, K. R. Blankstein, and P. L. Hewitt
Perfectionism, Performance, and State Positive Affect and Negative Affect After a Classroom Test
Canadian Journal of School Psychology, March 1, 2009; 24(1): 4 - 18.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
Behav ModifHome page
R. Glynn Owens and P. D. Slade
So Perfect It's Positively Harmful?: Reflections on the Adaptiveness and Maladaptiveness of Positive and Negative Perfectionism
Behav Modif, November 1, 2008; 32(6): 928 - 937.
[Abstract] [PDF]