The advantage of excellencism: Role of mindfulness in attenuating burnout

Why do some high-achieving students thrive while others experience burnout? This study investigated this paradox by examining perfectionism and excellencism, two forms of high personal standards, and the role of mindfulness. We approached a private university and collected data from 598 students. Confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence for the discriminant validity of perfectionism, excellencism, mindfulness, and burnout. The regression models revealed that mindfulness was associated with lower burnout levels. Excellencism was positively associated with mindfulness. Perfectionism was negatively associated with mindfulness. The results showed that mindfulness mediated the associations of both excellencism and perfectionism with burnout, such that excellencism was linked to lower burnout and perfectionism to higher burnout through reduced mindfulness. These findings help explain the inconsistent results reported in prior studies regarding the relationship between perfectionism and burnout. In addition, this study tested the models of excellencism and perfectionism in a non-Western educational context. Our study distinguishes between perfectionism and excellencism. The conceptual distinctiveness between perfectionism and excellencism has practical implications for academic administrators, as it helps design mindfulness-related training for high-achieving students to reduce their burnout.