Brooding About Mistakes and Being Imperfect, Perfectionistic Self-Presentation, and Distress

A Further Examination of the Mistake Rumination Scale in University Students

Bibliographic Data

ID22416012
AuthorsGordon L Flett (0000-0002-4502-6285, York University, corresponding author), Taryn Nepon (0000-0002-0902-2164, University of Toronto), Paul L Hewitt (0000-0003-4474-8611, University of British Columbia)
Year2026
Publication date2026-04-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Psychoeducational Assessment (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0734-2829 • E-ISSN: 1557-5144
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/07342829261446724
OpenAlexW7155066573
LanguageEN
References cited38

The current study extended previous work by further examining the psychometric properties of the Mistake Rumination Scale and its associations with depression and evaluative fears, as well as the cognitive experience of perfectionism and procrastination. Most notably, this study also uniquely examined a possible link between mistake rumination and a perfectionistic self-presentational style in line with our view that needing to outwardly seem perfect reflects internal insecurities and ruminative brooding about mistakes. The Mistake Rumination Scale is a seven-item inventory measuring the tendency to ruminate about a past personal mistake. In a sample of 132 university students, the Mistake Rumination Scale had good psychometric properties, including acceptable internal consistency and concurrent validity in terms of its links with perfectionistic self-presentation and ruminative thoughts related to being perfect and procrastination. Mistake rumination was positively associated with all facets of perfectionistic self-presentation. The measures of mistake rumination and automatic thoughts related to perfectionism and procrastination were all positively linked with depression and social anxiety. Regression analyses showed that mistake rumination was the only significant predictor of depression, while mistake rumination and perfectionistic cognitions were both significant predictors of fear of negative evaluation. Our findings attest to the further use of the Mistake Rumination Scale, highlighting the need for interventions that promote a more positive orientation toward making mistakes and an explicit emphasis on reducing the tendency to ruminate about mistakes.

Cognition · Mistake · Rumination · Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes · Mind wandering and attention · Perfectionism, Procrastination, Anxiety Studies

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