Reliability
Internal Consistency
Cronbach alpha coefficients were reported for 13 samples. All alpha coefficients for the perfectionistic self-
promotion and nondisplay of imperfection factors were .83 or higher. Lower alpha coefficients were found for
the nondisclosure of imperfections factor because it has fewer items (alpha coefficients ranged from .72 to .88).
Ferrari and Thompson (2006) reported alpha coefficients ranging from .75 to .88 in their study of imposter fears.
Test/C0Retest
Three-week test /C0retest reliability coefficients were computed based on the responses of 47 students.
Respective stability coefficients were .83, .84, and .74 for perfectionistic self-promotion, nondisplay of imperfec-
tions, and nondisclosure of imperfections (see Hewitt et al., 2003 ). A longer time period (four months) was used
to examine test /C0retest correlations for 104 adults participating in a self-help organization for people with a
history of depression. Stability coefficients were .81, .81, and .79, respectively, for perfectionistic self-promotion,
nondisplay of imperfections, and nondisclosure of imperfections.
Validity
Convergent/Concurrent
Stairs et al. (2012) reported that all three PSPS facets correlated positively (.28 or greater) with factors repre-
senting perceived pressure, dissatisfaction, and reactivity to mistakes.
Divergent/Discriminant
Ferrari and Thompson (2006) established that perfectionistic self-presentation overlaps minimally with general
impression management tendencies. Correlations between impression management and the PSPS facets were
2.14 for perfectionistic self-promotion, 2.24 for nondisplay of imperfection, and 2.09 for nondisclosure of
imperfection. Sherry et al. (2007) reported that use of an abbreviated PSPS yielded group differences in per-
fectionistic self-promotion and socially prescribed perfectionism with elevated scores among women with a his-
tory of cosmetic surgery.
Construct/Factor Analytic
Hewitt et al. (2003) undertook a principal components analysis with varimax rotation on the intercorrelations
of the 40 PSPS items using a sample of over 600 university students. The Scree test ( Cattell, 1978; Cattell &
Vogelmann, 1977 ) suggested a three-component solution was suitable. Items were retained if they had a loading
of .40 or higher on the intended component and they did not have a significant loading on an unintended compo-
nent. This further reduced the scale to 27 items. A second sample of 501 community members completed the 27-
item PSPS and the HFMPS. Once again a three-component solution was tested with the same procedures
employed. Coefficients of congruence for the three factors were: .98, .97, and .94 indicating a high degree of simi-
larity across the two samples. A clinical sample of 1041 adult psychiatric patients completed the 27-item PSPS.
This sample was composed mainly of outpatients with affective, anxiety, and adjustment disorders. The same
procedures were used and a three-component solution showed a high degree of congruence of the PSPS sub-
scales between the clinical and student samples and between the clinical and community samples, with coeffi-
cients ranging from .94 to .98. A CFA was conducted on a version of the PSPS scale administered to Korean
students ( Lee, Suh, & Lee, 2011 ). They reported an acceptable fit to the data after reducing the PSPS to 20 items.
This CFA did not consider item wording, even though a disproportionate number of reverse-worded items were
dropped in this 20-item version.
Criterion/Predictive
Perfectionistic self-presentation is empirically distinguishable from trait perfectionism and has incremental
validity in predicting unique variance in various indicators of psychological distress ( Hewitt et al., 2003 ). It was
found that the PSPS predictor block accounted for an additional 15% of the variance in predicting social interac-
tion anxiety and 13% of the variance in predicting social performance anxiety beyond the variance attributable to
the HFMPS subscales. Research on dysfunctional personality tendencies also attests to the predictive ability of
the PSPS subscales. Perfectionistic self-presentation has been linked with a chameleon-like form of
Machiavellianism focused on concealing imperfections and projecting confidence that is fuelled by a sense that
others tend to be hostile and controlling ( Sherry, Hewitt, Besser, Flett, & Klein, 2006 ). Correlations between612 21. MEASURES OF PERFECTIONISM
V. VICES AND VIRTUES