Who tends to be a perfectionistic adolescent? Distinguishing perfectionism from excellencism and investigating the links with the Big Five and self-esteem

Bibliographic Data

ID5269919
AuthorsKristina Bien (0009-0007-9733-7660, University of Hamburg Hamburg Germany), Jenny Wagner (0000-0001-7507-9620, University of Hamburg Hamburg Germany, corresponding author), Naemi D Brandt (0000-0003-1221-9117, University of Hamburg Hamburg Germany)
Year2025
Volume116
Issue1
Pages108-130
Publication date2025-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-1269 • E-ISSN: 2044-8295
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/bjop.12739
PMID39325595
OpenAlexW4402858535
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited79

Striving towards perfection is an important concept of study, given its heterogenous associations with both positive and negative outcomes. To address this matter, recent work has emphasized the need to differentiate between striving towards perfection (perfectionism) and excellence (excellencism). However, the applicability of this differentiation in adolescence remains largely unexplored, despite this life phase being particularly sensitive for the development of perfectionism. To better understand striving towards perfection in adolescence, we examined the psychometric properties of the German Scale of Perfectionism and Excellencism (SCOPE) and evaluated the nomological net with the Big Five and self-esteem in 788 German adolescents (Mage = 15.49 years; 50% female). The results underscored the distinctiveness of the different strivings in adolescents but pointed to mixed evidence regarding convergent and discriminant validities. Notably, striving towards perfection was related to lower levels of openness and self-esteem but higher levels of neuroticism, whereas striving towards excellence was related to higher levels of every trait except neuroticism. Finally, most results remained consistent across genders and school types. We discuss how the differentiation between perfectionism and excellencism deepens our understanding of adolescents' perfectionistic strivings and how it might inform future research across different psychological fields

Big Five personality traits · Conscientiousness · Developmental psychology · Neuroticism · Optimal distinctiveness theory · Perfection · Perfectionism (psychology) · Personality · Trait · Clinical Psychology · Education, Achievement, and Giftedness · Perfectionism, Procrastination, Anxiety Studies · Psychological and Temporal Perspectives Research · Psychology · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access