1. Sungok Serena Shim and Kathryn L. Fletcher, “Perfectionism and Social Goals: What Do Perfectionists Want to Achieve in Social Situations?,” Personality and Individual Differences 52, no. 8 (2012): 919, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2012.02.002.

2. Gordon L. Flett, Paul L. Hewitt, Kirk R. Blankstein, and Donna Pickering, “Perfectionism in Relation to Attributions for Success or Failure,” Current Psychology: A Journal for Diverse Perspectives on Diverse Psychological Issues 17, nos. 2–3 (1998): 249, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-998-1010-y.

3. Paul L. Hewitt, Gordon L. Flett, and Samuel F. Mikail, Perfectionism: A Relational Approach to Conceptualization, Assessment, and Treatment (Guilford Press, 2017), 18–22.

4. Martin M. Smith, Paul L. Hewitt, Simon B. Sherry, Gordon L. Flett, and Cassondra Ray, “Parenting Behaviors and Trait Perfectionism: A Meta-Analytic Test of the Social Expectations and Social Learning Models,” Journal of Research in Personality 96 (February 2022): 1, article 104180, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2021.104180; see also Fuschia M. Sirois and Danielle S. Molar, Perfectionism, Health, and Well-Being (Springer, 2016).

5. Murray W. Enns, Brian J. Cox, and Ian Clara, “Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism: Developmental Origins and Association with Depression Proneness,” Personality and Individual Differences 33, no. 6 (2002): 922, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(01)00202-1.

6. Enns and others, “Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism,” 922.

7. Enns and others, “Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism,” 1034–42.

8. Thomas S. Greenspon, “Is There an Antidote to Perfectionism?,” Psychology in the Schools 51, no. 9 (2014): 988, https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.21797.

9. Smith and others, “Parenting Behaviors and Trait Perfectionism,” 1–2.

10. Smith and others, “Parenting Behaviors and Trait Perfectionism,” 2; Joachim Stoeber and Patrick Gaudreau, “The Advantages of Partialling Perfectionistic Strivings and Perfectionistic Concerns: Critical Issues and Recommendations,” Personality and Individual Differences 104 (2017): 379, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.08.039.

11. Roz Shafran, Sarah Egan, and Tracey Wade, Overcoming Perfectionism: A Self-Help Guide Using Cognitive Behavioral Techniques (Robinson, 2010), https://www.google.com/books/edition/Overcoming_Perfectionism/Q6SeBAAAQBAJ.

12. Robert B. Slaney, Kenneth G. Rice, Michael Mobley, Joseph Trippi, and Jeffrey S. Ashby, “The Revised Almost Perfect Scale,” Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development 34, no. 3 (2001): 139, table 1.

13. Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (Amber-Allen Publishing, 2011), 30.

14. Slaney and others, “Revised Almost Perfect Scale,” 130–45.

15. Smith and others, “Parenting Behaviors and Trait Perfectionism,” 2.

16. Joachin Stoeber, “How Other-Oriented Perfectionism Differs from Self-Oriented and Socially Prescribed Perfectionism,” Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment 36, no. 2 (2014): 336, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-013-9397-7.

17. Smith and others, “Parenting Behaviors and Trait Perfectionism,” 2.

18. Stoeber and Gaudreau, “The Advantages of Partialling Perfectionistic Strivings and Perfectionistic Concerns,” 379.

19. Jana C. Gäde, Karin Schermelleh-Engel, and Andreas G. Klein, “Disentangling the Common Variance of Perfectionistic Strivings and Perfectionistic Concerns: A Bifactor Model of Perfectionism,” Frontiers in Psychology 8 (2017): 2, 160, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00160.

20. Edward C. Chang, “Conceptualization and Measurement of Adaptive and Maladaptive Aspects of Performance Perfectionism: Relations to Personality, Psychological Functioning, and Academic Achievement,” Cognitive Therapy and Research 30 (2006): 677–97, https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1007/s10608-006-9060-7.

21. Andrew P. Hill, Paul R. Appleton, and Sarah H. Mallinson, “Development and Initial Validation of the Performance Perfectionism Scale for Sport (PPS-S),” Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment 34, no. 7 (2016): 659, table 1.

22. Stress & Resilience Institute, “5 Styles of Perfectionism,” accessed September 17, 2024, https://stressandresilience.com/5-styles-of-perfectionism/.

23. Aliya Ojuade, “The Boundless Desire for Perfection: Exploring Socially Prescribed Perfectionism,” Medium, March 1, 2023, https://aliyao.medium.com/the-boundless-desire-for-perfection-exploring-socially-prescribed-perfectionism-28aef86f4b12.

24. Joachim Stoeber and Franziska S. Stoeber, “Domains of Perfectionism: Prevalence and Relationships with Perfectionism, Gender, Age, and Satisfaction with Life,” Personality and Individual Differences 46, no. 4 (2009): 530–35, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2008.12.006.

25. Stoeber and Stoeber, “Domains of Perfectionism,” 532–33.

26. Client story used with permission.

27. Client story used with permission.

28. Sarah K. Nelsen, Alper Kayaalp, and Kyle J. Page, “Perfectionism, Substance Use, and Mental Health in College Students: A Longitudinal Analysis,” Journal of American College Health 71, no. 1 (2023): 257–65, https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2021.1891076.

29. Kenneth G. Rice and Clarissa M. E. Richardson, “Classification Challenges in Perfectionism,” Journal of Counseling Psychology 61, no. 4 (2014): 646, https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/cou0000040.

30. Rice and Richardson, “Classification Challenges in Perfectionism,” 646.

31. Edward C. Chang, Angela Watkins, and Kira Hudson Banks, “How Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism Relate to Positive and Negative Psychological Functioning: Testing a Stress-Mediation Model in Black and White Female College Students,” Journal of Counseling Psychology 51, no. 1 (2004): 93–102, https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.51.1.93.

32. Hyun-joo Park and Dae Yong Jeong, “Psychological Well-Being, Life Satisfaction, and Self-Esteem Among Adaptive Perfectionists, Maladaptive Perfectionists, and Nonperfectionists,” Personality and Individual Differences 72 (2015): 168, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.08.031.

33. Enns and others, “Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism,” 922.

34. Enns and others, “Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism,” 922.

35. Chang and others, “How Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism Relate,” 97.

36. Enns and others, “Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism,” 921–35.

37. Park and Jeong, “Psychological Well-Being,” 168.

38. Karlijn W. J. de Jonge-Heesen, Sanne P. A. Rasing, Ad A. Vermulst, Rutger C. M. E. Engels, and Daan H. M. Creemers, “How to Cope with Perfectionism? Perfectionism as a Risk Factor for Suicidality and the Role of Cognitive Coping in Adolescents,” Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive Behavior Therapy 39 (2021): 201–16, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-020-00368-x.

39. Rice and Richardson, “Classification Challenges in Perfectionism,” 646.

40. Park and Jeong, “Psychological Well-Being,” 168–69.

41. G. E. Kawika Allen and Kenneth T. Wang, “Examining Religious Commitment, Perfectionism, Scrupulosity, and Well-Being Among LDS Individuals,” Psychology of Religion and Spirituality 6, no. 3 (2014): 257–64, https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035197.

42. Client story used with permission.

43. Thomas S. Greenspon, “Is There an Antidote to Perfectionism?,” 987.

44. M. D. Musumeci, C. M. Cunningham, and T. L. White, “Disgustingly Perfect: An Examination of Disgust, Perfectionism, and Gender,” Motivation and Emotion 46 (2022): 337, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-022-09931-8.

45. Musumeci and others, “Disgustingly Perfect,” 337.

46. Alba Moya-Garófano and Miguel Moya, “Focusing on One’s Own Appearance Leads to Body Shame in Women but Not Men: The Mediating Role of Body Surveillance and Appearance-Contingent Self-Worth,” Body Image 29 (2019): 62, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.02.008.

47. Jennifer R. Castro and Kenneth G. Rice, “Perfectionism and Ethnicity: Implications for Depressive Symptoms and Self-Reported Academic Achievement,” Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology 9, no. 1 (2003): 73, https://doi.org/10.1037/1099-9809.9.1.64; see also S. Sue and S. Okazaki, “Asian-American Educational Achievements: A Phenomenon in Search of an Explanation,” American Psychologist 45, no. 8 (1990): 913–20.

48. See Castro and Rice, “Perfectionism and Ethnicity,” 70, table 1.

49. Joey Fung, Grace Cai, and Kenneth Wang, “Personal and Family Perfectionism Among Asian and Latinx Youth,” Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology 29, no. 2 (2023): 235–36, https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000555.

50. Gordon L. Flett, Paul L. Hewitt, Joan M. Oliver, and Silvana Macdonald, “Perfectionism in Children and Their Parents: A&bnsp;Developmental Analysis,” in Perfectionism: Theory, Research, and Treatment, eds. Gordon L. Flett and Paul L. Hewitt (American Psychological Association, 2002), 89–132, https://doi.org/10.1037/10458-004.

51. Thomas Curran and Andrew P. Hill, “Perfectionism Is Increasing over Time: A Meta-Analysis of Birth Cohort Differences from 1989 to 2016,” Psychological Bulletin 145, no. 4 (2019): 419, https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000138.

52. Thomas Curran and Andrew P. Hill, “Young People’s Perceptions of Their Parents’ Expectations and Criticism Are Increasing over Time: Implications for Perfectionism,” Psychological Bulletin 148, nos. 1–2 (2022): 122–24, https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000347.

53. Curran and Hill, “Perfectionism Is Increasing over Time,” 412–13.

54. Thomas S. Greenspon, “Is There an Antidote to Perfectionism?,” 986.

55. See Ariel Ko, Paul L. Hewitt, Daniel Cox, Gordon L. Flett, and Chang Chen, “Adverse Parenting and Perfectionism: A Test of the Mediating Effects of Attachment Anxiety, Attachment Avoidance, and Perceived Defectiveness,” Personality and Individual Differences 150 (2019): article 109474; Enns and others, “Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism,” 922, 932.

56. Nooshin Pishva and Mohammad Ali Besharat, “Relationship Attachment Styles with Positive and Negative Perfectionism,” Procedia: Social and Behavioral Sciences 30 (2011): 402–6, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.079.

57. Milica Nikolic, Eddie Brummelman, Bram Orobio de Castro, Terrencee D. Jorgensen, and Christina Colonnesi, “Parental Socialization of Guilt and Shame in Early Childhood,” Scientific Reports 13 (2023): article 11767.

58. Hewitt and others, Perfectionism: A Relational Approach, 96–117; Smith and others, “Parenting Behaviors and Trait Perfectionism,” 13.

59. Curran and Hill, “Young People’s Perceptions of Their Parents’ Expectations and Criticism,” 109.

60. Thomas Curran, Andrew P. Hill, and Luke J. Williams, “The Relationships Between Parental Conditional Regard and Adolescents’ Self-Critical and Narcissistic Perfectionism,” Personality and Individual Differences 109 (2017): 17–22, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.12.035.

61. Curran and others, “Adolescents’ Self-Critical and Narcissistic Perfectionism,” 18.

62. Hewitt and others, Perfectionism: A Relational Approach, 36.

63. Enns and others, “Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism,” 922.

64. Enns and others, “Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism,” 923.

65. Alan E. Craddock, Wendy Church, Fleur Harrison, and Alexandra Sands, “Family of Origin Qualities as Predictors of Religious Dysfunctional Perfectionism,” Journal of Psychology and Theology 38, no. 3 (2010): 205–14, https://doi.org/10.1177/009164711003800305.

66. Smith and others, “Parenting Behaviors and Trait Perfectionism,” 13.

67. Emmanuelle Awad, Souheil Hallit, and Sahar Obeid, “Does Self-Esteem Mediate the Association Between Perfectionism and Mindfulness Among Lebanese University Students?,” BMC Psychology 10 (2022): 256, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-022-00964-9; see also Madeleine Ferrari, Keong Yap, Nicole Scott, Danielle A. Einstein, and Joseph Ciarrochi, “Self-Compassion Moderates the Perfectionism and Depression Link in Both Adolescence and Adulthood,” PLOS ONE 13, no. 2 (2018): 1–19, article e0192022, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192022.

68. Sarah L. Nachimson, “Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism in Jewish Adults: Associations with Religious Practice, Intrinsic Religiosity, and Subjective Well-Being” (PhD diss., Hofstra University, 2021), 1–108; Jeffrey S. Ashby and Judy Huffman, “Religious Orientation and Multidimensional Perfectionism: Relationships and Implications,” Counseling and Values 43, no. 3 (1999): 178–88, https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-007X.1999.tb00141.x; Allen and Wang, “Examining Religious Commitment,” 257–264.

69. Nachimson, “Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism,” 19; Jesse M. Crosby, Scott C. Bates, and Michael P. Twohig, “Examination of the Relationship Between Perfectionism and Religiosity as Mediated by Psychological Inflexibility,” Current Psychology 30, no. 2 (2011): 117–29; see also Leslie J. Shapiro, When Religion and Morals Become OCD: Understanding and Treating Scrupulosity (Bloomsbury, 2023).

70. Crosby and others, “Examination of the Relationship,” 186.

71. G. E. Kawika Allen, Kenneth T. Wang, and Hannah Stokes, “Examining Legalism, Scrupulosity, Family Perfectionism, and Psychological Adjustment Among LDS Individuals,” Mental Health, Religion & Culture 18, no. 4 (2015): 246–58, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13674676.2015.1021312; Kenneth T. Wang, G. E. Kawika Allen, Hannah I. Stokes, and Han Na Suh, “Perceived Perfectionism from God Scale: Development and Initial Evidence,” Journal of Religion and Health 57 (2018): 2207–23, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-017-0405-1.

72. Nachimson, “Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism in Jewish Adults,” 1–107.

73. Nachimson, “Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism in Jewish Adults,” 11, 21.

74. Allen and Wang, “Examining Religious Commitment,” 257–64; Ashby and Huffman, “Religious Orientation and Multidimensional Perfectionism,” 178–88.

75. Allen and Wang, “Examining Religious Commitment,” 262; Ashby and Huffman, “Religious Orientation and Multidimensional Perfectionism,” 186.

76. Allen and Wang, “Examining Religious Commitment,” 261.

77. Ashby and Huffman, “Religious Orientation and Multidimensional Perfectionism,” 186–87.

78. Gordon W. Allport, “The Religious Context of Prejudice,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 5, no. 3 (1966): 455, https://doi.org/10.2307/1384172.

79. Shapiro, When Religion and Morals Become OCD, 1–9.

80. Allen and Wang, “Examining Religious Commitment,” 258.

81. Allen and Wang, “Examining Religious Commitment,” 258–62.

82. Allen and others, “Examining Legalism,” 255.

83. Allen and others, “Examining Legalism,” 252–54.

84. Allen and others, “Examining Legalism,” 248.

85. Wang and others, “Perceived Perfectionism from God Scale,” 2221.

86. Wang and others, “Perceived Perfectionism from God Scale,” 2219.

87. Wang and others, “Perceived Perfectionism from God Scale,” 2220.

88. G. E. Kawika Allen, Abigail Norton, Sara Pulsipher, David Johnson, Benson Bunker, “I Worry That I Am Almost Perfect! Examining Relationships Among Perfectionism, Scrupulosity, Intrinsic Spirituality, and Psychological Well-Being Among Latter-Day Saints,” Spirituality in Clinical Practice 10, no. 4 (2023): 316–25, https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2021-71838-001.

89. Paula Park Patten Muse, “Factors Influencing Mental Health Help-Seeking Attitudes and Intentions in Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” (PhD diss., Palo Alto University, 2020), 88–94.

90. Caroline Waters Corrigan, “The Relationships Among Perfectionism, God Image, Religious Coping Style, and Vocational Burnout in Christian Clergy: An Empirical Investigation” (PhD diss., Wright Institute, 1998), 222, 227.

91. Samuel O. Peer and James S. McGraw, “Mixed-Method Study of Perfectionism and Religiosity Among Mormons: Implications for Cultural Competence and Clinical Practice,” Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy 38, no. 1 (2017): 75–100, https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/irp/vol38/iss1/12/.

92. Patrick R. Steffen, “Perfectionism and Life Aspirations in Intrinsically and Extrinsically Religious Individuals,” Journal of Religion and Health 53 (2014): 945–58, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-013-9692-3.

93. William Justin Dyer, Daniel K. Judd, Megan Gale, and Hunter Gibson Finlinson, “Religion, Mental Health, and the Latter-Day Saints: A Review of Literature 2005–2022,” Religions 14, no. 6 (2023): 1–21, https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14060701.

94. Dyer and others, “Religion, Mental Health, and the Latter-Day Saints,” 12.

95. Craddock and others, “Family of Origin Qualities as Predictors of Religious Dysfunctional Perfectionism,” 205–14; Nachimson, “Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism in Jewish Adults,” 1–107.

96. Jesse M. Crosby, Scott C. Bates, and Michael P. Twohig, “Examination of the Relationship Between Perfectionism and Religiosity as Mediated by Psychological Inflexibility,” Current Psychology 30 (2011): 120, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-011-9104-3.

97. Steffen, “Perfectionism and Life Aspirations,” 947, 956–57.

98. Although guilt and shame are often used synonymously, they are typically treated as distinct in research. Shame is typically defined as feelings of self-hatred, self-loathing, and worthlessness. Guilt is typically defined as a recognition that what a person did was wrong, often accompanied by feelings of remorse. While shame is conceptualized as negative, guilt (without shame) is often conceptualized as a healthy recognition for wrongdoing.

99. Allen and others, “Examining Legalism,” 254.

100. Allen and Wang, “Examining Religious Commitment,” 258–62; Jonathan S. Abramowitz, Jonathan D. Huppert, Adam B. Cohen, David F. Rolin, and Shawn P. Cahill, “Religious Obsessions and Compulsion in a Non-Clinical Sample: The Penn Inventory of Scrupulosity (PIOS),” Behavior Research and Therapy 40, no. 7 (2002): 825–38, especially table 1 on page 830.

101. Allen and others, “I Worry That I Am Almost Perfect!,” 317, 320–22.

102. Allen and others, “Examining Legalism,” 255; Allen and Wang, “Examining Religious Commitment,” 262.

103. Allen and Wang, “Examining Religious Commitment, Perfectionism, Scrupulosity, and Well-Being,” 258; Crosby and others, “Examination of the Relationship,” 125–26.

104. Allen and others, “Psychological Adjustment Among LDS Individuals,” 255; Allen and Wang, “Examining Religious Commitment, Perfectionism, Scrupulosity, and Well-Being,” 262.

105. Allen and others, “Examining Legalism,” 255.

Emma Moore

BYU Studies Publications