Why Perfectionism Is Antithetical to Mindfulness: a Conceptual and Empirical Analysis and Consideration of Treatment Implications

Fear of COVID-19 and Mental Health: The Role of Mindfulness in During Times of Crisis

“…Note. Path coefficients were standardized; insignificant path lines were dashed; ***p < 0.001 associated with decreased levels of anxiety and depression (Flett et al, 2020;Fong & Ho, 2020;Li et al, 2020;MacDonald & Olsen, 2020;Makadi & Koszycki, 2020;Soo et al, 2020). Moreover, several studies highlighted the mitigative effects of mindfulness on interpersonal problems (Janovsky et al, 2019), psychological distress (Masuda & Wendell, 2010), and, particularly, anxiety and depression (An et al, 2019;Lima et al, 2019).…”

A Systematic Review on the Psychological Effects of Perfectionism and Accompanying Treatment

“…James and Rimes (2017) found an increase in self-compassion through a mindfulness-based cognitive therapy group and that daily perfectionistic cognitions were reduced, suggesting that mindfulness could be a potentially efficacious treatment for perfectionism. The research also revealed that mindfulness lessens the cognitive and emotional load present for those who feel a perfectionistic self-presentation is necessary to maintain for others (Flett et al, 2020). Ong et al (2019) concluded that participants in a mindfulness-based group protocol experienced better improvements in perfectionism and related disorders, such as depression and anxiety than the waitlist control group.…”

“…Maladaptive perfectionism can have an insidious and consequential effect on individuals and society; its impacts can be far-reaching and contribute to a wide range of mental and physical health concerns (Egan et al, 2011;Flett et al, 2020;Molnar et al, 2018;Smith et al, 2018). Not only does perfectionism make individuals likely to be more susceptible to physical and mental health disorders, but its perniciousness also results in decreased capacity to cope with hardship and illness (Hewitt & Flett, 2002).…”

Perfectionism and Suicidal Ideation

“…Consistent with previous research, our results support the notion that socially prescribed perfectionism is a neurotic interpersonal style that increases one’s risk of experiencing mental health concerns such as suicidal ideation (Hewitt et al, 2006). This presents a conundrum regarding clinical intervention: On the one hand, perfectionism may be a useful treatment target, but on the other hand, individuals high in perfectionism tend to be more resistant to treatment than individuals low in perfectionism (Flett et al, 2020). This possibly suggests that perfectionism should be the first treatment target in individuals who present as highly perfectionistic.…”

“…Past research has indicated that perfectionism is indeed a mutable treatment target (e.g., Glover et al., 2007). Relatedly, treatments that focus on the promotion of mindfulness, considered “antithetical to perfectionism” (Flett et al, 2020, p. 1), may be particularly useful for decreasing perfectionistic traits.…”