PCI in 258 psychiatric patients. The overall mean in this sample was 46.79 ( SD524.49). Another sample of
80 adults recovering from alcoholism had an elevated mean of 53.59 ( SD522.80). The mean reported for a sam-
ple of 250 adolescents was 45.2 ( SD519.4) (Flett et al., 2012). Lo and Abbott (2013) compared three groups of per-
fectionists (non-perfectionists, adaptive perfectionists, and maladaptive perfectionists) and found respective PCI
means of 36.2 ( SD515.9), 45.5 ( SD515.5), and 62.8 ( SD519.9).
Reliability
Internal Consistency
The Cronbach alpha coefficient obtained for the initial student sample was .96 and the mean interitem correla-
tion was .49. Flett et al. (2007) found in their large clinical sample that the PCI exhibited a very high Cronbach
alpha coefficient of .95 (cf. Boyle, 1991 ).
Test/C0Retest
Flett et al. (1998) reported a three-month test /C0retest reliability of .85. Mackinnon, Sherry, and Pratt (2013)
administered the PCI to 127 students over an interval of 130 days and the test /C0retest reliability was found to be
.76.Wimberly and Stasio (2013) observed that perfectionistic automatic thoughts could become incorporated into
enduring cognitive structures which become relatively stable over time.
Validity
Convergent/Concurrent
Flett et al. (1998) using a sample of 311 students found that the PCI correlated significantly with self-oriented
perfectionism ( r5.66), other-oriented perfectionism ( r5.26), and socially prescribed perfectionism ( r5.35). The
study by Flett et al. (1998) with 62 psychiatric patients described above revealed strong associations between the
PCI and both self-oriented perfectionism ( r5.52) and socially prescribed perfectionism ( r5.65). The PCI was
also associated with all of the FMPS dimensions except the organization subscale. Khawaja and Armstrong (2005)
also linked the PCI with scores on a composite FMPS measure of ‘dysfunctional perfectionism’ ( r5.74), while
Sturman (2011) associated the PCI with feelings of defeat. Flett et al. (2008) had the 80 people recovering from
alcoholism complete several measures including the PCI, the Hewitt and Flett MPS, and the Cognitive Self-
Management Test (CSMT; Rude, 1989). The CSMT included a measure of ‘inflexible perfectionism’ which was
associated strongly with the PCI ( r5.51). Inflexible perfectionism was also linked with self-oriented perfection-
ism ( r5.43) and to a lesser degree, socially prescribed perfectionism ( r5.26). The PCI was associated robustly
with frequent thoughts about procrastination ( r5.52) and it was also associated with a fear of failure measure
(r5.44) (Flett et al., 2012).
Divergent/Discriminant
Flett et al. (2012) examined the correlates of the PCI in a sample of 94 university students. The PCI was unre-
lated to a measure of conscientiousness. Bardone-Cone, Sturm, Lawson, Robinson, and Smith (2010) compared
women who currently had an eating disorder versus healthy controls and those who had partially or fully recov-
ered. Much higher mean PCI scores were found among women who had a current eating disorder or who had
only partially recovered, relative to those who were in the control group or who had fully recovered.
Construct/Factor Analytic
Various principal components analyses without rotation have supported the unidimensional structure of the
PCI with most items having significant loadings (see Flett et al., 1998 ). Initial analyses were conducted with data
from samples of 234 and 747 university students. Flett et al. (2008) examined the psychometric qualities of the
PCI in a sample of 258 psychiatric patients. Comparable results were found for data from 250 adolescents (Flett
et al., 2012). Item loadings were generally quite high, with most items having loadings higher than .50 and all but
two items having loadings higher than .40. Appleton et al. (2011) also carried out a principal components analysis
and found a single large component. Overall, 20 items had loadings of .50 or higher and another four items had
loadings between .40 and .50. Analyses were guided by the conceptualization of the PCI as primarily reflecting a
unidimensional construct tapping various themes.
Criterion/Predictive
Hill and Appleton (2011) linked scores on the PCI with athlete burnout in youth rugby players. This study
also included indices of trait perfectionism (i.e., self-oriented perfectionism and socially prescribed perfectionism)609 OVERVIEW OF THE MEASURES
V. VICES AND VIRTUES