Deconstructing perfectionism in college students: Patterns of behavior, emotion, and cognition

Perfectionism is a complex, multidimensional personality construct that has been linked to both adaptive and maladaptive behavioral and mental health outcomes, particularly for college students. Based on the premise that personality reflects patterns of affect, cognition, and behavior, we deconstructed perfectionism into these constituent parts, with the goal of examining how they contribute to disparate expressions of the trait. We hypothesized that distinct profiles of perfectionism would be identified, and that these profiles would be differently associated with indices of mental health and well-being. Participants (N = 410; M = 18.9 years of age) were recruited from a voluntary online pool of undergraduate students. Data was collected through administration of several self-report measures. Six underlying factors of perfectionism were identified by submitting measures of behavioral, emotional, and cognitive correlates to a principal components analysis. These factor scores were submitted to cluster analysis, which identified four distinct profiles: constructive, motivated, obsessive, and non perfectionist. The data indicated that these profiles were associated with differences in well-being. Among college students, constructive and motivated expressions of perfectionism may allow individuals to pursue high standards without suffering the mental health consequences that can result from inevitable challenges and setbacks experienced in a demanding environment.