Perfectionism and Well-Being: An Investigation into the Mediating Role of Eudaimonic Motives

Research suggests that perfectionistic concerns are associated with lower levels of well-being while perfectionistic strivings are associated with higher levels of well-being. While characteristics such as unrealistic expectations and a fear of failure help to explain why perfectionistic concerns are associated with lower levels of well-being, it remains unclear why perfectionistic strivings are associated with higher levels of well-being. To address this issue, the present research utilised a cross-sectional design and an opportunity sample of undergraduate psychology students (N = 218; mean age = 18.7 years; 34 male, 209 female, 1 non-binary, 1 gender-neutral, 2 missing) to investigate the possibility that eudaimonic motives mediate the relationships between the two forms of perfectionism and both hedonic (positive affect, life satisfaction) and eudaimonic (meaning in life, subjective vitality) forms of well-being. The results showed that eudaimonic motives fully mediated the positive relationships between perfectionistic strivings and positive affect, meaning in life, and subjective vitality. Eudaimonic motives also fully mediated the negative relationship between perfectionistic concerns and meaning in life, and partially mediated the negative relationships between perfectionistic concerns and both positive affect and subjective vitality. These findings suggest that eudaimonic motives play an important role in explaining why some forms of perfectionism are beneficial to well-being while other forms of perfectionism are harmful to well-being.