Khawaja and Armstrong (2005) suggested that the FMPS could be reduced to 24 items but their analyses with
data from an Australian sample yielded only four factors.
Conceptually and in terms of clinical applications, it seems important to retain the distinction between concern
over mistakes from doubts about actions, and to retain the distinction between the parental factors to help distin-
guish between parents who pressure their children despite varying in how critical they can be.
Criterion/Predictive
Rice, Ashby, and Slaney (2007) administered the FMPS, the HFMPS, the Almost Perfect Scale /C0Revised, the
NEO-Five Factor Inventory-Form S, and measures of self-esteem and depression to 204 undergraduates.
Hierarchical regression analyses predicting depression and self-esteem showed that trait perfectionism dimen-
sions were significant predictors of unique variance after other personality trait measures had been entered. In
both instances, the concern over mistakes subscale predicted unique variance beyond the variance attributable to
neuroticism and conscientiousness. Validity data in the sports context were reported by Frost and Henderson
(1991) . A sample of 40 women in varsity athletics completed the FMPS, along with measures assessing sports
self-confidence, sports competition anxiety, thoughts before competitions, specific reactions to mistakes during
competition, and the presence of a sports success orientation (e.g., ‘I feel a sense of pride when I play a good
game’) versus a failure orientation (e.g., ‘My mistakes usually interfere with my play’). They found that the con-
cern over mistakes subscale was associated with several negative outcomes, including sport competition anxiety
(r5.47), low sport confidence ( r52.61), failure orientation ( r5.70), and reports of negative reactions to mistakes
during competition, including disappointment ( r5.64). Athletes high in personal standards perfectionism had
higher levels of both success orientation ( r5.68) and failure orientation ( r5.37), difficulty concentrating while
performing ( r5.47), dreams of perfection ( r5.43) and worries about the reactions of the audience ( r5.31).
Frost et al., 1995 ,Frost et al., 1997 established the validity of the concern over mistakes subscale by conducting
detail analyses of people with high scores on this dimension. Frost et al. (1995) exposed people who were either
high or low on concern over mistakes to an experimental computer task designed to elicit either frequent mis-
takes or a task that typically resulted in few mistakes being made. Those who were high in concern over mistakes
and in the high mistakes condition were differentiated by more negative affect, lower confidence in their ability
to do the task and great belief in the likelihood of others judging them in a harsh manner. Frost et al. (1997) con-
trasted individuals who were high versus low on concern over mistakes in terms of their reactions to mistakes
made in daily life circumstances. Participants were asked to keep a daily mistakes journal for five days.
Individuals in the high concern over mistakes group were more bothered by and had more negative affect in
response to their mistakes. They also rated their mistakes as being higher in importance. Contemporary research
on elevated concern over mistakes has established links with neural markers of responses to error and antici-
pated error feedback ( Tops, Koole, & Wijers, 2013 ). Also, research on performers (golfers, dart throwers, and
cricket players) suffering from ‘the yips’ (an involuntary motor skill control problem) established that they had
higher levels of concern over mistakes and personal standards when compared with performers not suffering
from ‘the yips’ ( Roberts, Rotherham, Maynard, Thomas, & Woodman, 2013 ).
Location
Frost, R.O., Marten, P., Lahart, C., & Rosenblate, R. (1990). The dimensions of perfectionism. Cognitive Therapy
and Research ,14, 559/C0572.
Results and Comments
The FMPS is the most widely used perfectionism measure. However, concerns have been raised about whether
the parental expectations and parental criticism subscales are antecedents or part of the perfectionism construct,
so this likely accounts for why some investigators opt to use only two subscales (concern over mistakes, doubts
about actions). One limitation when using the FMPS in clinical and counseling settings is the lack of published
norms; however, discriminant group validity is clearly evident. Also, items require only a Grade 5 reading level.
Indeed, the FMPS has been used in research with children and adolescents, so it has a broad scope of
applicability.599 OVERVIEW OF THE MEASURES
V. VICES AND VIRTUES