Gifted students and perfectionism.Although there is no universally accepted definition of giftedness, sensitivity, intensity and perfectionism per·fec·tion·ism n. A tendency to set rigid high standards of personal performance. per·fec  tion·ist adj. & n. are often used as
descriptive characteristics (Meyen & Skrtic, 1995). Perfectionism
also has been difficult to define. Frost, Marten marten, name for carnivorous, largely arboreal mammals (genus Martes) of the weasel family, widely distributed in North America, Europe, and central Asia. Martens are larger, heavier-bodied animals than weasels, with thick fur and bushy tails. , Lahart, &
Rosenblate, (1990) recommended that future studies consider the
multi-dimensionality of perfectionism as a construct. Hamachek (1978)
attempted to distinguish normal perfectionism from neurotic
perfectionism by suggesting that perfectionism be viewed as a positive
personality trait that enables a student to strive for excellence or as
a negative personality trait characterized by neurotic,
obsessive-compulsive behavior obsessive-compulsive behaviornormal activities or behavior for the species, but repetitive or constant, even to the point of being damaging to the animal. Includes tail chasing, flank licking and licking. . He referred to the latter as neurotic perfectionism, stressing that the manner of thinking about behavior is just as important as the behavior. For example, normal perfectionists Perfectionists: see Noyes, John Humphrey. allow themselves to fail and to be imperfect while neurotic perfectionists never feel that their efforts are good enough. Pacht (1984) also viewed perfectionism as negative, defining it as a tendency to form and pursue unrealistically high goals. It is the striving for that nonexistent non·ex·is·tence n. 1. The condition of not existing. 2. Something that does not exist. non perfection that keeps people in turmoil and is associated with a significant number of psychological problems. (p. 386) Meyen & Skrtic (1995) however, proposed that perfectionism is one of the key elements of the gifted personality that should not be altered. A variety of psychological and physiological disorders are associated with negative perfectionism. These include depression (Hewitt & Dyck, 1986), eating disorders eating disorders, in psychology, disorders in eating patterns that comprise four categories: anorexia nervosa, bulimia, rumination disorder, and pica. Anorexia nervosa is characterized by self-starvation to avoid obesity. (Axtell & Newton, 1993), obsessive-compulsive personality disorders obsessive-compulsive personality disorder Psychiatry A condition characterized by 'A pervasive pattern of preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and mental and interpersonal control at the expense of flexibility, openness, and efficiency (Rasmussen & Eisen, 1992) and suicide (Callahan, 1993). Perfectionism may play a role in other forms of psychopathology psychopathology /psy·cho·pa·thol·o·gy/ (-pah-thol´ah-je) 1. the branch of medicine dealing with the causes and processes of mental disorders. 2. abnormal, maladaptive behavior or mental activity. . For example, Frost, et al., (1990) noted several other disorders such as alcoholism, erectile dysfunction Erectile Dysfunction Definition Erectile dysfunction (ED), formerly known as impotence, is the inability to achieve or maintain an erection long enough to engage in sexual intercourse. , irritable bowel syndrome irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), condition characterized by frequently alternating constipation and diarrhea in the absence of any disease process. It is usually accompanied by abdominal pain, especially in the lower left quadrant, bloating, and flatulence. , depression, anorexia, obsessive compulsive pain, dysmorphophobia, and ulcerative colitis ulcerative colitis Inflammation of the colon, especially of its mucous membranes. The inflamed membranes develop patches of tiny ulcers, and the diarrhea contains blood and mucus. . (p. 450) Perfectionistic gifted students are often vulnerable to such disorders. Negative perfectionism is further characterized by very high personal standards. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Adderholt-Elliott (1991), gifted children are vulnerable to perfectionistic behavior, not only because of their very high standards but also because of: birth order, perfectionistic parents, and pressure from teachers and peers. She sees perfectionism as more of a problem in the gifted population (p. 70). Bireley & Genshaft (1991) proposed that perfectionism is an adverse reaction to stress in gifted children. They contend that many gifted youngsters are troubled by a condition known as developmental dysplaysia, or uneven development where the mental age of the child is greater than the chronological age chron·o·log·i·cal age n. Abbr. CA The number of years a person has lived, used especially in psychometrics as a standard against which certain variables, such as behavior and intelligence, are measured. . Consequently, this uneven development often becomes a source of stress because these children lack the necessary social and emotional skills to accomplish some tasks. Some of these gifted young people will generate more stress than others and incur adverse reactions adverse reactions, n.pl unfavorable reactions resulting from administration of a local anesthetic; responsible factors include the drug used, concentration, and route of administration. to their stress. According to Parker & Adkins (1995), empirical knowledge on giftedness and perfectionism is in its infancy. They further acknowledged that there are few instruments available now that allow researchers to measure perfectionism as a construct. The purpose of the following study is to help refine the construct of perfectionism by using participant responses to a Perfectionism Quiz. It was hypothesized that a significant number of the participants would score high on the Perfectionism Quiz, providing additional evidence of perfectionism among gifted students. Method Three hundred fifty-six students from 18 different high schools, 12 in the city and 6 from neighboring neigh·bor n. 1. One who lives near or next to another. 2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another. 3. A fellow human. 4. Used as a form of familiar address. v. counties, accepted an invitation to participate in an honors conference held in southwest Texas. Participants were 156 males and 200 females 60% of whom were White, 30% were Hispanic and 10% were African American African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. . The mean age was 16 years. The majority of the students were from the gifted and talented programs in these schools and the others were from honor societies or honors programs. One hundred and thirty of the 356 students chose to participate in a workshop about perfectionism and 109 of these students voluntarily responded to a Perfectionism Quiz administered during the workshop. The Perfectionism Quiz has 30 likert-like items and an internal reliability of .85 (alpha). The content validity content validity, n the degree to which an experiment or measurement actually reflects the variable it has been designed to measure. seems fairly high, reflecting the content domain of perfectionism based on the available literature (Carmines & Zeller, 1979). The combination of high content validity and high internal reliability provide acceptable evidence of construct validity construct validity, n the degree to which an experimentally-determined definition matches the theoretical definition. (Mueller, 1986). Raudsepp (1988) developed the Perfectionism Quiz and it's score interpretations (see Table 1). The score interpretations for the higher score categories are in concurrence CONCURRENCE, French law. The equality of rights, or privilege which several persons-have over the same thing; as, for example, the right which two judgment creditors, Whose judgments were rendered at the same time, have to be paid out of the proceeds of real estate bound by them. Dict. de Jur. h.t. with current research that sees perfectionism as obsessive-compulsive behavior (Frost, et al., 1990; Parker & Adkins, 1995). The Perfectionism Quiz provides a useful tool for defining perfectionism as a construct.
Table 1
Description of Student Scores on Perfectionism Quiz
Category of Abbreviated Number of Participants
Scores Interpretation in each category
30-52 Easily adapts 0
to new situations
53-84 mild tendency 12
toward obsessive-
compulsiveness
85-132 function in 63
obsessive compulsive
ways in some areas
133-185 obsessive-compulsive 34
patterns are a serious
problem
Mean = 116 SD = 25.118 N= 109
Category of Percent
Scores in category
30-52 0%
53-84 11%
85-132 58%
133-185 31%
Mean = 116 100% Mode = 118
Procedure Each student received a copy of the questionnaire and an answer grid. Students evaluated items 1-22 on a 4-point scale where the choices were 1) almost always, 2) sometimes, 3) rarely, 4) never. For items 23-30 they responded with agree or disagree. After all participants completed their answer grid, the answers and the corresponding item scores were displayed using an overhead projector. The participants scored their own grids and compared their score to the score ranges. Finally, interpretations for score categories, the significance of the scores and some strategies for overcoming perfectionism were discussed. Table 1 indicates the number of participants scoring in each category and an abbreviated version of the interpretation for each category. Results Although the students totaled their own scores during the workshop, their data were later scored and analyzed independently. The maximum possible score was 185, the maximum obtained score was 166 and the mean score was 116, as shown in Table 1. Ninety-seven participants (89%) scored in the highest categories. Statistical analysis provided strong evidence that these high scores did not happen by chance. A single sample chi-square determined that the frequency of observed responses differed significantly from the expected responses for each category (see table 2). The critical value of 2 for two degrees of freedom is 9.21 at the .01 level of significance. The obtained 2 of 36.02 exceeds the critical value of 2 and is significant at the .001 level. To explore the multi-dimensionality of perfectionism, an exploratory factor analysis was used to detect the presence of any perceived latent variables. The factor analysis, using a Varimax rotation, extracted 9 factors based on eigenvalues eigenvalues statistical term meaning latent root. over 1.0. Cumulatively, they explain 63% of the variance. The factor loadings are shown in Table 3. Nine possible dimensions of perfectionism were derived, based on the extracted factors (see Table 3).
Table 2
Ranking of High Response Items from Perfectionism
Quiz (N=109)
Rank Item # Frequency
1 26 91
2 12 68
3 28 64
4 2 64
5 29 64
6 3 63
7 5 50
8 7 45
Rank Item Content
1 I sometimes needlessly delay doing something I have to do.
2 I get very upset when people take advantage of me.
3 I am frequently tense.
4 I tend to make strong demands on myself.
5 There is usually a discrepancy between the way I want to
behave and the way I actually do.
6 I feel uncomfortable when I have to break an appointment.
7 It bothers me when people do not put things back exactly as
I left them.
8 I tend to get upset if things don't go as planned.
Table 3 Factors and Loadings from the Perfectionism Questionnaire Factor 1 - Need for Order, Organization 06. I like to pre-plan and schedule most of my activities very carefully. 13. I am meticulous and orderly with most of my possessions. 01. It is important for me to have a place for everything and everything in it's place. 22. I like to make lists of my daily chores and activities. 07. I tend to get upset if things don't go as planned. 14. I feel I must strive for perfection in everything I do. 04. When leaving my home I find that I have to check and recheck doors, lights, windows, stove, etc. 05. It bothers me when people do not put things back exactly as I left them. Factor 2 - Need for approval of others 05. It bothers me when people do not put things back exactly as I left them. 15. I'm afraid of being laughed at. 20. I tend to brood too much over what people think of me. 28. I am frequently tense. 16. I feel I miss out on a lot of opportunities because I don't act quickly enough. Factor 3 - Obsessive, compulsive demands on self 14. I feel I must strive for perfection in everything I do. 03. I feel uncomfortable when I have to break an appointment. 02. I tend to make strong demands on myself. 08. After completing a task, I am prone to doubts about whether I did it right. 11. I tend to worry too much about a lot of things. 10. Unwanted, unpleasant or worrisome thoughts keep coming into my head. 09. I do certain things over and over even though I know it's pointless. Factor 4 - Anxiety and excessive worry 17. I find it difficult to relax and do nothing. 11. I tend to worry too much about a lot of things. 23. I often feel anxious or apprehensive even though I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. why. 10. Unwanted, unpleasant or worrisome thoughts keep coming into my head. Factor 5 - Indecision Indecision Buridan’s ass unable to decide between two haystacks, he would starve to death. [Fr. Philos.: Brewer Dictionary, 154] Cooke, Ebenezer his irresolution usually leads to catatonia. [Am. Lit. 21. When under stress, I tend to become confused and disorganized dis·or·gan·ize tr.v. dis·or·gan·ized, dis·or·gan·iz·ing, dis·or·gan·iz·es To destroy the organization, systematic arrangement, or unity of. . 30. My work tends to pile up so much that I have difficulty completing it. 19. I experience difficulty in trying to make the right decision. 09. I do certain things over and over even though I know it's pointless. Factor 6 - High expectations of others 27. People often disappoint me. 24. I frequently get angry at others for not sticking to plans we've made. Factor 7 - Hurried, driven 29. There is usually a discrepancy between the way I want to behave and the way I actually do. 18. I move walk and eat rapidly because I don't want to waste time. Factor 8 - Procrastination 26. I sometimes needlessly delay doing something I have to do. 16. I feel I miss out on a lot of opportunities because I don't act quickly enough. Factor 9 - Low interpersonal confidence 12. I get very upset when people take advantage of me. 25. Most mornings I spend a great deal of time making sure that I look just right. Discussion A significant chi-square statistic provided some evidence that these gifted students tended to score high on the Perfectionism Quiz as hypothesized. According to Raudsepp (1988), the higher the score, the more it represents a serious problem with obsessive-compulsive disorder obsessive-compulsive disorder Mental disorder in which an individual experiences obsessions or compulsions, either singly or together. An obsession is a persistent disturbing preoccupation with an unreasonable idea or feeling (such as of being contaminated through shaking , a negative form of perfectionism. That 89% of the respondents scored in the two highest categories supported the idea that perfectionism is a characteristic of this sample. The large number of students scoring in the higher categories of the Perfectionism Quiz, casts some doubt on Webb's (1995) suggestion that only 15% - 20% of gifted students are hindered by perfectionism. However, the need for further study in this area, precludes generalization to the gifted population. The item analysis yielded interesting information. Item 26 ranked number one with an astounding a·stound tr.v. a·stound·ed, a·stound·ing, a·stounds To astonish and bewilder. See Synonyms at surprise. [From Middle English astoned, past participle of astonen, 89% of the participants responding "almost always" to "I sometimes needlessly delay doing something I have to do." (see table 2) It is not surprising that procrastination seems to be the number one problem in this group. Several researchers cite procrastination as a problem associated with perfectionism in gifted students (e.g., Parker & Adkins, 1995; Hamachek, 1978; Adderholdt-Elliott, 1991). Knowledge of items with high scores may be useful for identifying problem areas and for providing a basis for helping gifted students find healthier alternatives to negative perfectionism or the obsessive compulsive behavior Compulsive behavior is behavior which a person does "compulsively", i.e., not because he enjoys it but because he feels he "has to". The two most common forms are: This study considered the multi-dimensionality of perfectionism to further clarify this construct. The factors extracted by factor analysis suggest possible subscales or refinements for the Perfectionism Quiz. There was support in the literature for 6 of the 9 factors that were identified as possible dimensions of perfectionism: Factor 1 - Need for Order, Organization (Adderholdt-Elliott, 1991); Factor 2 Need for approval of others (Webb, 1995), (Hamachek, 1978); Factor 3 - Obsessive-compulsive demands on self (Hamachek, 1978), (Bireley & Genshaft, (1991); Factor 4 Anxiety and excessive worry (Hamachek, 1978), (Bireley & Genshaft, 1991); Factor 5 - Indecision (Hamachek, 1978), (Adderholdt-Elliott, 1991); Factor 8 - Procrastination (Adderholdt-Elliott, 1991). The significance of the Perfectionism Quiz lies in its utility. It serves as a tool for measuring perfectionism, it provides information that is useful for identifying behaviors and traits of perfectionism and it contributes to the refinement of perfectionism as a construct. Collectively, this information provides a venue for increased understanding of the gifted student. REFERENCES Adderholt-Elliott, M. (1991). Perfectionism and the gifted adolescent. In Marlene Bireley & Judy Genshaft Judy Lynn Genshaft is the current president of the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. Originally from Ohio, Genshaft has lived in Florida for many years, and has been the president of the University of South Florida since 2000. (Eds.), Understanding the gifted adolescent: educational, developmental, and multicultural issues (pp. 65-75). New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of : Teachers College Press. Axtell, A. & Newton, B. J. (1993). An analysis of alderian life themes of bulimic bu·li·mi·a n. 1. An eating disorder, common especially among young women of normal or nearly normal weight, that is characterized by episodic binge eating and followed by feelings of guilt, depression, and self-condemnation. women. Journal of Alderian Theory, Research and Practice 49(1), 58-67. Bireley, M. & Genshaft, J. (Eds.), Understanding the gifted adolescent: educational, developmental, and multicultural issues. New York: Teachers College Press. Callahan, J. (1993). Blueprint for an adolescent suicidal crisis. Psychiatric Annals, 23(5), 263-270. Carmines, E. G., & Zeller, R. A. (1979). Reliability and Validity Assessment. California: Sage Publications This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. , Inc. Frost, R. O., Marten, P., Lahart, C., & Rosenblate, R. (1990). The dimensions of perfectionism. Cognitive Therapy cognitive therapy n. Any of a variety of techniques in psychotherapy that utilize guided self-discovery, imaging, self-instruction, and related forms of elicited cognitions as the principal mode of treatment. and Research, 14(5), 449-468. Hamachek, D. E. (1978). Psychodynamics psychodynamics /psy·cho·dy·nam·ics/ (-di-nam´iks) the interplay of motivational forces that gives rise to the expression of mental processes, as in attitudes, behavior, or symptoms. of normal and neurotic perfectionism. Psychology, 15, 27-33. Hewitt, P. L., & Dyck, D. G. (1986). Perfectionism, stress and vulnerability to depression. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 10(1), 137-142. Meyen, E. L., & Skrtic, T. M. (1995). Special education and student disability. Denver, Colorado: Love Publishing Co. Mueller, D. J. (1986). Measuring social attitudes: a handbook for researchers and practitioners. New York: Teachers College Press. Pacht, A. (1984). Reflections on perfection. American Psychologist The American Psychologist is the official journal of the American Psychological Association. It contains archival documents and articles covering current issues in psychology, the science and practice of psychology, and psychology's contribution to public policy. , 34(4), 386-390. Parker, W. D., & Atkins, K. K. (1995). Perfectionism and the Gifted. Roeper Review, /7(3), 173-175. Rasmussen, S. A., & Eisen, J. L. (1992). The epidemiology and clinical features of obsessive compulsive disorder Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) Disorder characterized by persistent, intrusive, and senseless thoughts (obsessions) or compulsions to perform repetitive behaviors that interfere with normal functioning. Mentioned in: Tourette Syndrome . Psychiatric Clinics of North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , /5(4), 743-758. Raudsepp, E. (1988, April). Hooked on perfection. Harper's Bazaar Harper’s Bazaar leading fashion magazine. [Am. Culture: Misc.] See : Fashion , 207. Webb, J. (1995, Winter). Nurturing the social-emotional development of gifted children. Teaching Exceptional Children, 76-77. Carolyn Orange, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Texas, San Antonio San Antonio (săn ăntō`nēō, əntōn`), city (1990 pop. 935,933), seat of Bexar co., S central Tex., at the source of the San Antonio River; inc. 1837. , is interested in motivation and gifted education Gifted education is a broad term for special practices, procedures and theories used in the education of children who have been identified as gifted or talented. Programs providing such education are sometimes called Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) or . Manuscript submitted June, 1996. Revision accepted February, 1997. |
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