Abstract
Unhealthy perfectionism has been associated with a host of maladaptive characteristics within sport contexts (Hall, 2006; Flett & Hewitt, 2005). Research that investigates unhealthy perfectionism from the perspective of individuals who display unhealthy perfectionist tendencies could enhance researchers' and practitioners' understanding of the achievement orientation and its negative consequences (Rice, Bair, Castro, Cohen, & Hood, 2003). Therefore,the aim of this study was to qualitatively explore achievement with athletes identified as having unhealthy perfectionist tendencies. Among an initial pool of 117 intercollegiate varsity student-athletes, potential participants were identified based on the relative degree to which their Sport Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale-2 (Gotwals & Dunn, 2009) score profile was consistent with descriptions of unhealthy perfectionism. Eleven athletes (6 females and 5 males; M age = 21.55 years, SD = 1.33) from a variety of sports participated in semi-structured interviews. Thematic content analysis of the interviews identified three themes: personal expectations, dealing with challenge and the role of others. Within the theme of personal expectations athletes referred to the importance of effort, identified winning as a primary goal and emphasized worries and fears that accompanied mistakes. Athletes also indicated that they were highly self-critical and expressed having trouble recovering from setbacks when dealing with challenge.Finally, significant others in the athletes' lives were described as being supportive, but also associated with pressure and negative feedback. Results are discussed in relation to perfectionism theory.Acknowledgments: This study was supported by a grant awarded to the authors by Lakehead University's Senate Research Committee.