An experimental analysis of perfectionism and dissatisfaction

The striving after perfection has been often mentioned in clinical literature; however, there have been few systematic analyses of the concept. In the present study, a questionnaire measure of Perfectionism and General Dissatisfaction (the SCANS) together with the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and measures thought to gauge aspects of perfectionistic thinking, were administered to a mixed group of 148 subjects, including 25 eating disorder patients. Perfectionism was found to correlate negatively with Psychoticism (as measured by the EPQ) and positively with the Lie scale. Thus Perfectionism appears to be associated with a tendency to deny personally deviant behaviour and to present oneself in the best possible light. It is also associated with greater accuracy in a visual search task. General Dissatisfaction was correlated significantly with Neuroticism, Introversion and Psychoticism. It thus appears to be related to a combination of 'neurotic introversion' and 'personality deviance'. It is also associated with a tendency to be under-inclusive, that is to find difficulty in ruling out irrelevant stimuli when forming categories. Dissatisfaction was also associated with increased reaction time in the visual search task, perhaps also a reflection of an inability to ignore irrelevant stimuli. Only the EPQ N and P scales successfully differentiated neurotic or dissatisfied perfectionists from normal or satisfied perfectionists, although several measures derived from the visual search task produced results which were approaching significance.