Perfectionism in students and positive career planning attitudes

Abstract

In today's uncertain job market, university students who show positive attitudes in their career planning have an advantage. Yet, we know little what personality characteristics are associated with individual differences in career planning attitudes. The present study examined 177 university students to investigate whether perfectionism (self-oriented, other-oriented, and socially prescribed) predicted students' positive career planning attitudes (career adaptability, career optimism, and perceived knowledge of the job market). Results from multiple regressions showed that perfectionism explained 8-12% variance in career planning attitudes with (a) selforiented perfectionism positively predicting career adaptability and career optimism, (b) otheroriented perfectionism positively predicting perceived knowledge, and (c) socially prescribed perfectionism negatively predicting career adaptability. The findings suggest that perfectionism is a personality characteristic that may both underpin and undermine students' positive attitudes towards career planning.

Secondary school students positive and negative perfectionism as a predictor of career development

“…Many individual differences affect career process. There are studies on the relationship between perfectionism, one of these individual characteristics, and career-related outputs (Lehmann and Konstam, 2011;Park et al, 2011;Andrews et al, 2014;Stober et al, 2016;Eryılmaz and Kara, 2017;Gnilka and Novakovic, 2017). Students set goals for themselves during the process of career development by setting standards.…”

The Effect of Perfectionism on Career Adaptability and Career Decision-Making Difficulties

“…Perfectionism was identified as relevant to career development (e.g., Andrews, Bullock-Yowell, Dahlen, & Nicholson, 2014; Lehmann & Konstam, 2011; Page, Bruch, & Haase, 2008) and as a potential target for career counseling intervention. Most existing quantitative research about the interplay of perfectionism and career development focuses on dimensions of perfectionism used in regression or SEM models to predict career outcomes (e.g., Stoeber, Mutinelli, & Corr, 2016). Although these studies have deepened understanding about how perfectionism predicts career outcomes, results such as the interactive effects of perfectionism dimensions have yet to become relevant for practitioners, given the lack of practical information from these findings.…”

Dominant drivers of business students

“…Stoeber et al (2016) found that perfectionism may explain individual differences in students' attitudes related to career planning. The authors showed that high standards of performance -for oneself or for others -have positive relationships with a series of positive career planning attitudes, such as flexibility and adaptability, while evaluative concerns have negative relationships with these positive attitudes.…”