ABSTRACT
While there are numerous benefits to be gained from the pursuit of an academic career, many of us who enjoy the privilege of working in a university environment cherish the fact that an academic position not only provides a legitimate reason to indulge one’s own passion for the subject but it also facilitates significant opportunities to engage in research activities which are aimed at satisfying personal curiosity about any particular field of study. When I was first approached to contribute to this edited volume, it was suggested to me that as someone who has been researching perfectionism for some considerable time, I might like to reflect upon and share some of my thoughts about this personality characteristic and the nature of its influence upon the motivation, performance, and well-being of individuals who are striving to achieve in the fields of sport, dance, and exercise. As a reflective piece, the purpose of this chapter is to provide a considered opinion on the emergence of perfectionism as a topic for research in these important achievement contexts, in the hope that this will not only stimulate debate, but provide ideas for further empirical research on the subject. The chapter will begin by identifying those factors which initially stimulated my interest in understanding the psychological mechanisms underlying the influence of perfectionism in sport, for these were the catalyst for my own empirical research and that of a number of my graduate students whose research is featured in this text. Subsequently, it will offer some thoughts on how empirical research on perfectionism has influenced our understanding of important motivational processes in sport, dance, and exercise since the first research on perfectionism began to appear in sport psychology journals in the early to mid-1990s. It will also offer an opinion on some important issues with which those studying perfectionism must begin to wrestle if we are to better understand the nature of the personality characteristic, its antecedents, and its consequences. Finally, the chapter will attempt to identify some notable gaps in our current understanding from which potential avenues for further empirical research will be evident.
