Search Results

This study investigated whether motivation regulations mediate the relationship between socially prescribed and self-oriented dimensions of perfectionism and athlete burnout. Two-hundred and thirty-one (N = 231) elite junior athletes completed the Child and Adolescent Perfectionism Scale (Flett, Hewitt, Boucher, Davidson, & Munro, 2000), the Sport Motivation Scale (Pelletier, Fortier, Valle-rand, Tuson, & Blais, 1995), and the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (Raedeke & Smith, 2009). Multiple mediator regression analyses revealed that amotivation mediated the relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism and burnout symptoms. Amotivation and intrinsic motivation emerged as significant mediators of the relationship between self-oriented perfectionism and burnout symptoms. The findings suggest that patterns of motivation regulations are important factors in the perfectionism-athlete burnout relationship.

Perfectionism is a personality characteristic that has been found to predict sports performance in athletes. To date, however, research has exclusively examined this relationship at an individual level (i.e., athletes’ perfectionism predicting their personal performance). The current study extends this research to team sports by examining whether, when manifested at the team level, perfectionism predicts team performance. A sample of 231 competitive rowers from 36 boats completed measures of self-oriented, team-oriented, and team-prescribed perfectionism before competing against one another in a 4-day rowing competition. Strong within-boat similarities in the levels of team members’ team-oriented perfectionism supported the existence of collective team-oriented perfectionism at the boat level. Two-level latent growth curve modeling of day-by-day boat performance showed that team-oriented perfectionism positively predicted the position of the boat in midcompetition and the linear improvement in position. The findings suggest that imposing perfectionistic standards on team members may drive teams to greater levels of performance.

This study examined whether the relationships between self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism and symptoms of burning out (i.e., reduced accomplishment, emotional and physical exhaustion, sport devaluation, negative affect, and symptoms of physical ill-health) were moderated by hearing ability. A total of 417 athletes (hearing = 205, deaf = 212) completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Hewitt & Flett, 1991, 2004), the negative affect subscale of the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988), the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (Raedeke & Smith, 2001), and the Physical Symptoms Checklist (Emmons, 1991). Regression analyses revealed the hypothesized relationships were generally consistent across both groups. The current findings provide insight into the potential effects of perfectionism dimensions for hearing and deaf athletes’ health.