Abstract
Disagreement surrounding the concept of healthy perfectionism is prominent in the perfectionism literature (Flett & Hewitt, 2002). Sport-based research that investigates healthy perfectionism directly from the perspective of individuals who display healthy perfectionist tendencies could provide insight into this issue (Flett & Hewitt, 2005; Rice, Bair, Castro, Cohen, & Hood, 2003). Therefore,the aim of this study was to qualitatively explore achievement with athletes identified as having healthy perfectionist tendencies. Among an initial pool of 117 Canadian 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 healthy perfectionism. Seven athletes (3 females and 4 males; M age = 21.32 years, SD = 2.81) from a variety of sports participated in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and a thematic content analysis of the data was performed. This analysis led to the emergence of three themes: personal expectations, dealing with challenge and the role of others. Within the theme of personal expectations athletes spoke about the importance of having goals, exerting effort and maintaining mental focus. Athletes also revealed that having a positive outlook and problem solving helped in dealing with sport performance challenges. Finally, the critical role of others (e.g., parents, teammates and coaches) in athlete's sport experiences was also discussed. The results of this study are discussed within the context of perfectionism/achievement motivation theory.Acknowledgments: This study was supported by a grant awarded to the authors by Lakehead University's Senate Research Committee.