measures (labeled: concern over mistakes, doubts about actions, and parental criticism) while they exhibited sig-
nificantly lower scores on the organization factor. The respective scores for individuals with social phobia versus
community volunteers were as follows: concern over mistakes ( M525.6, SD57.5 versus M520.3, SD56.7),
doubts about actions ( M510.9, SD53.7 versus M59.0,SD53.5), personal standards ( M523.1, SD55.8 versus
M523.4, SD54.9), organization ( M520.1, SD55.4 versus 23.1, SD55.0), parental expectations ( M512.7,
SD56.0 versus M512.5, SD53.9), and parental criticism ( M59.3, SD53.9 versus M57.8, SD53.1). Parker
(2002) reported the FMPS results for 820 academically talented students in Grade 6 who were classified via clus-
ter analyses into groups of non-perfectionists, adaptive perfectionists, and maladaptive perfectionists. The mal-
adaptive perfectionists exhibited significantly higher scores across all FMPS factors. The means for the
maladaptive perfectionism group were as follows: concern over mistakes ( M525.1, SD55.0), doubts about
actions ( M510.8, SD53.1), personal standards ( M526.5, SD53.9), organization ( M521.5, SD54.6), parental
expectations ( M516.9, SD54.0), and parental criticism ( M58.8,SD53.2).
Reliability
Internal Consistency
Cronbach alpha coefficients from the initial Frost et al. (1990) sample ranged from .77 to .93 across the FMPS
subscales with an alpha coefficient of .90 for the overall scale. Subscale alpha coefficients were reported in 58 of
these studies ( Ha, Lee, & Puig, 2010 ). The mean alpha coefficients across settings were: personal standards (.77),
organization (.86), concern over mistakes (.84), doubts about actions (.71), parental expectations (.77), and paren-
tal criticism (.75). The total score exhibited an alpha coefficient of .87 (cf. Boyle, 1991 ).
Test/C0Retest
Rice and Dellwo (2001) found evidence indicating that the Fros t MPS subscales have moderate stability
when assessed twice over a 10-week period in a sample of undergraduates, with test /C0retest coefficients across
the subscales ranging from .62 to .88. Cox and Enns (2003) examined the stability of subscale scores in 105 clin-
ically depressed patients who were re-assessed one year later after remission of their depression. Test /C0retest
coefficients were found to be .68 for personal standar ds, .70 for concern over mistakes, .60 for doubts about
actions, .71 for parental expectations , .72 for parental criticism, and .72 f or organization. Based on a sample of
40 university students, Gelabert et al. (2011) reported stability coefficients over a one month interval ranging
from .82 to .92.
Validity
Convergent/Concurrent
Frost et al. (1990) reported positive correlations between total FMPS scores and scores on three measures of
perfectionism (the Burns Perfectionism Scale, the Irrational Beliefs Test high standards scale) and the EDI perfec-
tionism subscale ( r’sranging from .57 to .85). Frost, Heimberg, Holt, Mattia, and Neubauer (1993) established
substantial associations between the respective subscales of the FMPS and the Hewitt and Flett Multidimensional
Perfectionism Scale (HFMPS), showing substantial communality. Hill et al. (2004) created the Perfectionism
Inventory (PI) with eight subscales, including alternative measures tapping concern over mistakes, organization,
striving for excellence, high standards for others, and perceived parental pressure. The PI was administered
along with both FMPS inventories to a sample of 613 university students. Corresponding subscales exhibited
strong correlations, attesting to concurrent validity. For instance, the personal standards subscale exhibited a
strong association with PI striving for excellence ( r5.72) while the subscales assessing parental expectations and
parental criticism exhibited positive correlations with the perceived parental pressure subscale of .85 and .60,
respectively. Stairs, Smith, Zapolski, Combs, and Settles (2012) administered many perfectionism measures to 687
students to identify the underlying components of the perfectionism construct. Their 61-item nine factor scale is
entitled: Measures of Constructs Underlying Perfectionism. Significant correlations between the FMPS and some
of the underlying constructs were as follows: personal standards (.67 with high standards), organization (.85 with
order), concern over mistakes (.72 with reactivity to mistakes), doubts about actions (.66 with dissatisfaction),
parental expectations (.54 with perceived pressure), and parental criticism (.38 with perceived pressure).
Divergent/Discriminant
The study by Stairs et al. (2012) provided extensive illustrations of the discriminant validity of the FMPS sub-
scales. For instance, doubt about actions had minimal links with high standards ( r5.17) and perfectionism597 OVERVIEW OF THE MEASURES
V. VICES AND VIRTUES