Perfectionism and achievement goals in athletes: Relations with approach and avoidance orientations in mastery and performance goals

By Joachim Stoeber, O. Stoll, Eva Pescheck, K. Otto. 2008

164 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Objectives Challenging views that perfectionism is a maladaptive factor in sport and that it is related to a preoccupation with performance goals and a neglect of mastery goals, the present article argues that perfectionism in athletes is not generally maladaptive, but shows differential relationships with mastery and performance goals depending on which facets of perfectionism are regarded. Method Going beyond the dichotomous achievement goal framework, two studies with N=204 high school athletes and N=147 university student are presented investigating how two facets of perfectionism—striving for perfection and negative reactions to imperfection [Stoeber, J., Otto, K., Pescheck, E., Becker, C., & Stoll, O. (2007). Perfectionism and competitive anxiety in athletes: Differentiating striving for perfection and negative reactions to imperfection. Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 959–969.]—relate to athletes’ achievement goals. Design Study 1 employed a cross-sectional correlational design, Study 2 a longitudinal correlational design. Results Following the trichotomous achievement goal framework, Study 1 found striving for perfection to be positively related to mastery and performance-approach goals, whereas negative reactions to imperfection were positively related to performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals and inversely to mastery goals. Following the 2×2 framework, Study 2 found striving for perfection to be positively related to mastery-approach and performance-approach goals whereas negative reactions to imperfection were positively related to mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals. Moreover, negative reactions to imperfection predicted residual increases in mastery-avoidance goals over 3 months. Conclusions It is concluded that striving for perfection in athletes is associated with an adaptive pattern of achievement goals whereas negative reactions to imperfection are associated with a maladaptive pattern. Thus, striving for perfection in sport may be adaptive in athletes who do not experience strong negative reactions when performance is less than perfect.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/2cfaaa13961bfd3ed728458636c232b63fd300b4

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Citations in the corpus

Measuring Perfectionism in Sport, Dance, and Exercise: Review, Critique, Recommendations (2016, background): “reaction to imperfection have shown reliability and validity in numerous studies (e.g., Stoeber et al., 2007; Stoeber et al., 2008; Stoll, Lau, & Stoeber, 2008).”
Are perfectionistic strivings in sport adaptive? A systematic review of confirmatory, contradictory, and mixed evidence. (2012, background): “…self-confidence A .18 .37 S S Competitive trait anxiety–cognitive M .03 –.22 S Competitive trait anxiety–somatic M .04 –.19 S 142 university athletes (39% female) MIPS SP NRI .56 Competitive state self-confidence A .02 .27 S Competitive state anxiety–cognitive M .10 –.21 S Competitive state…”
Perfectionism and Performance (2012, unknown): “…self-confidence, approach goal orientations, and self-serving attributions of success and failure (Stoeber & Becker, 2008; Stoeber et al., 2007; Stoeber, Stoll, Pescheck, & Otto, 2008), perfectionistic concerns in athletes are associated with characteristics and processes that are likely to…”
The dual nature of perfectionism in sports: relationships with emotion, motivation, and performance (2011, background): “The first study (Stoeber et al., 2008) examined student athletes’ achievement goal orientations in training and in competition.”