Bidimensional Perfectionism and Psychological Distress: The Roles of Self-Esteem and Self-Compassion

Perfectionism as a personality trait can be seen as having both adaptive and maladaptive dimensions. Nevertheless, their relationships with psychological distress remain mixed in the current literature. Previous studies were also limited by the use of impure measurements and the failure to statistically control for the effects of the other dimension. By addressing these major limitations and exploring the mediating and moderating roles of self-esteem and self-compassion, the current study provides an in-depth examination of the relationships between bidimensional perfectionism and psychological distress. In a community sample of 503 adults, results supported a bidimensional view of perfectionism, with maladaptive perfectionism positively predicting psychological distress and adaptive perfectionism being unrelated to psychological distress. Self-esteem was found to mediate the relationships between both dimensions of perfectionism and psychological distress. Self-compassion was only found to moderate the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and self-esteem. Whilst the maladaptive nature of maladaptive perfectionism was supported in this study, findings suggested that adaptive perfectionism remains a more complicated construct. Future studies should aim at clarifying the nature and psychological outcomes of adaptive perfectionism.