RELATIONSHIP OF PERFECTIONISM TO DEPRESSION AND HOPELESSNESS IN COLLEGE-STUDENTS

The purpose of this study was to construct a Japanese version of Hewitt and Flett's (1991b) Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS) and examine the relationship of perfectionism to depression and hopelessness in college students. In Study 1, a translated version of MPS was administered to 414 college students. Sixty-seven of them also completed seven personality scales in order to examine validity of the new scale. The self-oriented, other-oriented, and socially-prescribed perfectionism subscales have high reliability and validity. In Study 2, 163 college students completed a questionnaire of stressor, depression, and hopelessness scales, in addition to the Japanese MPS. Self-oriented perfectionism was negatively correlated with hopelessness, and socially-prescribed perfectionism positively with depression and hopelessness regardless of the degree of stressor. These results were different from those of Hewitt and Flett (1991b), and it was found that part of the self-oriented subscale correlated positively with hopelessness, and other part negatively. In the present study, the negative part appeared to have been dominant.