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Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences pp 3477–3480Cite as

Perfectionistic Cognitions

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Synonyms

Automatic perfectionistic thoughts; Perfectionistic automatic thoughts

Definition

Perfectionistic cognitions can be defined as automatic thoughts involving themes of perfectionism such as needing to attain perfection and being concerned about not being perfect (e.g., Flett et al. 1998; Stoeber et al. 2010).

Introduction

From a cognitive perspective, perfectionism (also see “Perfectionism” in the current volume) can be studied as a set of interrelated thoughts concentrated on perfectionistic themes (e.g., “I must be perfect”). Perfectionistic cognitions are gaining increased attention in the field. This heightened interest is, in part, owing to conceptual advancements in the field, such as the development of the cognitive theory of perfectionism (Flett et al. 2016), which posits that some individuals high in perfectionism continually engage in overthinking and excessive rumination that results in greater vulnerability to stress and distress. Interest in perfectionistic...

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References

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  • Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Blankstein, K. R., & Gray, L. (1998). Psychological distress and the frequency of perfectionistic thinking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 1363–1381.

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  • Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Whelan, T., & Martin, T. R. (2007). The perfectionism cognitions inventory: Psychometric properties and associations with distress and deficits in cognitive self-management. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 25(4), 255–277. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-007-0055-4.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Child and Youth Studies, Brock University, Catharines, ON, Canada

    Danielle S. Molnar & Emily L. Murphy

Authors
  1. Danielle S. Molnar
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  2. Emily L. Murphy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Danielle S. Molnar .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Lakehead University, Orillia, Canada

    Beth A. Visser

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Molnar, D.S., Murphy, E.L. (2020). Perfectionistic Cognitions. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_1105

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