Child-oriented and partner-oriented perfectionism explain different aspects of family difficulties

Abstract

The aim of the study was to verify the relationship between child-oriented and partner-oriented perfectionism, and their associations with narcissism and with difficulties in the romantic and parental domains. A total of 459 individuals participated, 264 women and 195 men (Mage = 33.88, SD = 4.39). Child-oriented perfectionism and partner-oriented perfectionism were related to each other and positively correlated with narcissism. Partner-oriented perfectionism turned out to be a specific predictor of difficulties in the romantic relations, whereas child-oriented perfectionism was found to be a predictor of difficulties in parental relation. The results suggest that studies on other-oriented perfectionism should take into consideration concrete individuals at whom perfectionistic expectations are directed (e.g. partner and children). This will enable a more precise investigation of the influence of perfectionism on family life and a better understanding of the social consequences of other-oriented perfectionism.

The Big Three Perfectionism Scale: Validation of the Polish Version

“…The data collected and analyses conducted show that the Polish version of the BTPS adequately captures the conceptualization of perfectionism proposed by Smith, Saklofske, Stoeber, and colleagues (2016). Another goal of the conducted studies was to verify the utility of the Polish-language version of the BTPS by observing the relationship of the three dimensions with other perfectionism scales, which measured aspects of personal standards perfectionism, evaluative concerns (Frost et al, 1990), and child-oriented perfectionism (Piotrowski, 2020). Second, we analyzed the relationships between the BTPS dimensions and indicators of psychological and emotional difficulties: borderline symptoms, parental stress, and parental burnout (Piotrowski, 2023).…”

“…Regarding other-oriented perfectionism, studies to date have confirmed their disruptive effects on child development and the parent himself (Smith et al, 2017), but a limitation of these studies has been defining this characteristic as a general, non-specific tendency. However, recent studies have confirmed that the expectation of perfection differs for different family members (Piotrowski, 2020), justifying studies focused on specific interpersonal relationships. In the parenthood context, studies on child-oriented perfectionism appear to be particularly relevant, but they are extremely rare (Lin et al, 2022; Piotrowski, 2020), making it still unclear what the relationship between child-oriented perfectionism and other aspects of perfectionism is.…”

“…However, recent studies have confirmed that the expectation of perfection differs for different family members (Piotrowski, 2020), justifying studies focused on specific interpersonal relationships. In the parenthood context, studies on child-oriented perfectionism appear to be particularly relevant, but they are extremely rare (Lin et al, 2022; Piotrowski, 2020), making it still unclear what the relationship between child-oriented perfectionism and other aspects of perfectionism is. To date, studies using the BTPS have not focused on the associations of the three aspects of perfectionism with parenthood difficulties and negative attitudes toward children (such as child-oriented perfectionism) making our study an important contribution to knowledge about the utility of this scale.…”

“…In addition, in Study 1 we hypothesized a significant relationship between the BTPS dimensions and perfectionism dimensions measured by other self-report perfectionism scales. We assessed associations between the BTPS dimensions and measures of perfectionism that enable the measurement of perfectionistic expectations from oneself (the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale; FMPS; Frost et al, 1990) as well as from a child (the Children-Dyadic Almost Perfect Scale; C-DAPS; Piotrowski, 2020). With regard to child-oriented perfectionism, the present study is the first in which we examined whether measurement with the BTPS can also be an indicator of this destructive parenting attitude.…”

“…Study 1 aimed to assess the factor structure of the Polish translation of the BTPS (Smith et al, 2016) and correlations between BTPS dimensions and similar perfectionism dimensions measured by other questionnaires. To analyze convergent validity, we used the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS; Frost et al, 1990) and the Children-Dyadic Almost Perfect Scale (C-DAPS; Piotrowski, 2020) which measures the degree of child-oriented perfectionism, a specific manifestation of more general other-oriented perfectionism (Hewitt & Flett, 1991).…”