The Psychology of Perfectionism

Abstract

In this chapter, we advocate for greater attention to be directed at studying the influence of perfectionism on health and illness.It is from this perspective that our chapter presents a critical examination of the role of perfectionism in health outcomes.Although our analysis focuses primarily on how and why perfectionism relates to health symptoms, we also examine evidence linking perfectionism with difficulties in coping with chronic illness-an assessment that highlights how excessive striving for perfection may be a liability in the context of ongoing health limitations.We then focus on key mechanisms and processes that render certain perfectionists particularly vulnerable to health problems.A significant limitation plaguing the perfectionism and health field is that, aside from a few noteworthy exceptions, research has been largely atheoretical.To this end, we propose two potential pathways that may help further our understanding of why perfectionism might be implicated in poor health outcomes, namely stress and health behaviors.

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