Perfectionism, social physique anxiety and disordered eating: a comparison of male and female elite athletes

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Abstract

Objective: To examine the relationship between Positive and Negative Perfectionism and Social Physique Anxiety (SPA) and the extent to which these two variables predict disturbed eating attitudes in male and female elite athletes.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Method: Athletes (n=316) completed measures of Positive and Negative Perfectionism, SPA, disordered eating and social desirability. Zero- and first-order (partial) correlations were examined to determine the relationship between Positive and Negative Perfectionism and SPA. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to examine how two individual difference variables, perfectionism and SPA, relate and contribute to disordered eating.

Results: For both male and female athletes, Negative Perfectionism was significantly related to SPA. For males, Positive Perfectionism made a small, yet significant, contribution (i.e. 6%) in predicting disturbed eating attitudes. For females, Negative Perfectionism and SPA uniquely and in combination significantly contributed 41% of the variance in the prediction of disturbed eating attitudes.

Discussion: These findings suggest that Negative Perfectionism is strongly linked with SPA and that, in females, SPA is an additional psychosocial variable to consider in the relationship between Negative Perfectionism and disordered eating.

Introduction

Several studies have examined various different aspects of perfectionism, although not as frequently in athletic populations (Frost & Henderson, 1991; Gould, Udry, Tuffey, & Loehr, 1996; Hewitt & Flett, 1991a). In general, perfectionism has been defined as the setting of unrealistic, excessively high standards in relation to one's goals and expectations (Burns, 1983). The maladaptive effects of perfectionism have been linked with various psychopathologies, such as eating disorders, depression, neuroticism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and a variety of different anxiety disorders (Davis, 1997; Flett, Hewitt, & Dyck, 1989; Pacht, 1984).

Over the years, a convergence of descriptive studies on perfectionism has emerged, suggesting both a ‘normal’ form along with a ‘neurotic’ form. For instance, Hamachek (1978) distinguished between normal and neurotic perfectionists, where normal perfectionists experience high satisfaction and increased self-esteem from their achievements. Neurotic perfectionists, on the other hand, “…are unable to feel satisfaction because in their own eyes they never seem to do things good enough…” (p. 27), focusing on the perceived inadequacy and failure of their efforts. This distinction parallels that which was made by Slade and Dewey (1986) between ‘Satisfied’ and ‘Dissatisfied’ perfectionists and that by Frost, Heimberg, Holt, Mattia, and Neubauer (1993) between ‘Positive Achievement Striving’ and ‘Maladaptive Evaluative Concerns’.

Terry-Short, Owens, Slade and Dewey (1995) recently proposed a theoretically-based distinction between normal healthy perfectionism and unhealthy neurotic perfectionism. Positive (normal) Perfectionism can be defined as the motivation to achieve a certain goal in order to obtain a favourable outcome. Negative (neurotic) Perfectionism can be defined as the motivation to achieve a certain goal in order to avoid adverse consequences (Terry-Short et al., 1995). This distinction is grounded in behavioural theory (Skinner, 1968). Skinner noted that similar behaviour might be associated with different emotional responses depending on whether it is a function of positive or negative reinforcement. For instance, performing a behaviour for positive reinforcement is perceived to be a free choice whereas performing the same behaviour for negative reinforcement is perceived as coerced (Skinner, 1968).

These two types of perfectionism vary across individuals and can be assessed with the Positive and Negative Perfectionism Scale (PANPS) (Terry-Short et al., 1995). Terry-Short et al. (1995) provided initial construct validation for the PANPS and its underlying theory by examining Positive and Negative Perfectionism scores among four groups: athletes, eating disorder patients, depressed patients and controls. The results showed that athletes scored the highest on Positive Perfectionism whereas eating disorder patients scored the highest on Negative Perfectionism. With respect to the ratios of Positive to Negative Perfectionism, they found significant differences between the clinical and non-clinical groups. Specifically, athletes and controls showed higher levels of Positive Perfectionism than Negative Perfectionism, while in contrast, eating disordered and depressed groups showed lower levels of Positive Perfectionism than Negative Perfectionism. Further construct validation for the PANPS has been provided by Haase, Prapavessis and Owens (1999). They showed that relations between Negative Perfectionism and disturbed eating attitudes were strongest for female lightweight rowers with higher body mass index scores. Positive Perfectionism was unrelated to disturbed eating.

As mentioned earlier, research has demonstrated a relationship between perfectionism and many different forms of anxiety. For instance, Hewitt and Flett, 1991a, Hewitt and Flett, 1991b found socially-prescribed perfectionism (i.e. maladaptive perfectionism) correlated strongly with social anxiety in both student and clinical samples. Saboonchi and Lundh (1997) reported similar findings between dimensions associated with maladaptive perfectionism (i.e. concern over mistakes, doubts about action, socially-prescribed perfectionism) and measures of social anxiety and agoraphobia. Lundh and Ost (1996) reported that social phobics exhibited higher levels of perfectionism (concern over mistakes) and self-consciousness than controls. Finally, Hall, Kerr and Matthews (1998) and Onwuegbuzie and Daley (1999) both showed a significant relationship between concern over mistakes and doubt about action dimensions (i.e. maladaptive perfectionism) and competitive sport anxiety and statistics anxiety, respectively. In short, these studies provide evidence that maladaptive perfectionism is strongly associated with anxiety psychopathology. Through extension to Terry-Short et al.'s theoretical distinction, maladaptive perfectionism (e.g. concern over mistakes, doubts over action and socially-prescribed perfectionism dimensions) closely parallels and lends itself to Negative Perfectionism.

In light of the connection between perfectionism and social anxiety, it would be logical to assess the implications of other possible types of anxiety. Within the self-presentational framework, social physique anxiety (SPA) is one type of social anxiety that has yet to be linked to perfectionism. SPA relates to the anxiety experienced when an individual perceives that his/her body shape or figure is being negatively evaluated by others (Hart, Leary & Rejeski, 1989). A number of studies have shown that athletes and exercisers experience SPA in a variety of situations and contexts (Crawford & Eklund, 1994; Hausenblas & Mack, 1999; Spink, 1992).

According to Schlenker and Leary (1982), individuals may set unrealistic high standards in relation to their social performance, resulting in the inability and failure to be satisfied with how they are regarded by others. Over a period of time, this excessive concern may be continually reinforced through repeated failures of attempting to achieve the desired social performance and to self-present to other important individuals in the ‘perfect’ manner. Through extension of Terry-Short et al.'s (1995) perfectionism distinction, Negative Perfectionism, not Positive Perfectionism, should be closely related to social anxiety. By setting unrealistic high standards and attempting to avoid failure in the perceived eyes of important others (whether in performance or physical shape or appearance), athletes may experience more anxiety and concern about their physique due to the possibility of failure to self-present according to their perceived ‘perfect’ standard. One purpose of the present study, then, was to determine the relationship between perfectionism — both positive and negative — and SPA (a specific physique or body social anxiety) among male and female elite athletes.

Females consistently score significantly higher in SPA than males (Hart et al., 1989; Martin & Mack, 1996; McAuley, Bane, & Mihalko, 1995). Hence, it was suspected that in our current culture's obsession for thinness and physical attractiveness, female athletes might pursue and struggle with bodily perfection issues to a greater extent than their male counterparts (Brownell, 1991), and in turn experience more anxiety about their physique if they fail to meet their high and unrealistic standards. This proposition suggests that relations between the two constructs, Perfectionism and SPA, should be more robust for females than males.

As also noted earlier, perfectionism has been identified as influencing disordered eating in clinical and student female groups (Davis, 1997; Hewitt, Flett, & Ediger, 1995). Insofar as athletes are concerned, it has been suggested that athletes may share many of the same psychological factors that have been implicated in the development of eating disorders within clinical populations. These psychological factors include high levels of competitiveness (Borgen & Corbin, 1987), high emphasis on control (Slade, Newton, Butler, & Murphy, 1991), and perfectionist tendencies (Taub & Benson, 1992). Athletes may also represent a high-risk population for disordered eating behaviour because it is assumed they are exposed to body shape and weight pressures unique to sport (Leung, Geller, & Katzman, 1996). For instance, Striegel-Moore, Silberstein, and Rodin (1986) suggested that sport, with its emphasis on obtaining an optimal weight for athletic performance, represents a subculture that augments society's pressures to be thin.

The above arguments support the proposition that SPA may be an additional individual difference factor in the development of disordered eating to consider in athletic populations. For instance, one might expect eating pathologies to be related to self-presentational concerns involving the physique, due to the close parallel between the two constructs. As previously mentioned, this relationship may potentially stem from socio-cultural pressures to conform to the ‘ideal’ fit and toned image (Striegel-Moore et al., 1986) and the desire to self-present in that manner. For example, SPA has been shown to be related to important self-presentational motives for exercise that include exercising for body tone, weight control and physical attractiveness (Crawford & Eklund, 1994; Eklund & Crawford, 1994), which are the same underlying motives for developing and maintaining disordered eating (cf. Leary, Tchividjian, & Kraxberger, 1994). In short, both SPA and disordered eating are driven, at least in part, by self-presentational concerns about the appearance of one's physique.

Empirically, Chad and Spink (1996), Hausenblas and Mack (1999) and Reel and Gill (1996) showed positive relations between SPA and disordered eating among female gymnasts, divers, and cheerleaders, respectively (three groups where self-presentational concerns about one's physique are a salient feature of the activity). These findings were extended to other athletic groups through a study of college athletes by Whitehead, Bratrud and Eklund (1998). Hence, a secondary purpose of this study was to examine both the unique, and joint contribution of perfectionism and SPA in predicting disordered eating among male and female athletes.

From a theoretical perspective, it seems reasonable to assume that SPA and perfectionism relations with disordered eating might be stronger for females than males. For instance, girls are praised more for physical appearance and boys for physical functioning such as athletic skills (Striegel-Moore & Kearney-Cooke, 1994). It also has been suggested that perfectionism may be relevant to understanding how physical attractiveness plays a role in the aetiology of disordered eating behaviour (Davis, 1997; Davis, Claridge, & Fox, 2000). As previously mentioned, negative perfectionistic individuals will tend to set excessively high and often unattainable standards in whatever goals assist them to achieve and validate their self-esteem — this applies where physical attractiveness is the main source of self-regard. Through extension, this proposition could be extended such that as female athletes' perfectionistic standards toward body shape and size are unable to be met, SPA may occur, leading to the use of unhealthy eating to attempt to adjust the body in line with the unrealistic goals.

Section snippets

Participants

The sample consisted of 316 Australian elite athletes (females n=181 and males n=135) from a number of different sports. The 135 male athletes competed in 14 sports (aerobics (n=2); archery (n=5); basketball (n=12); cricket (n=16); cycling (n=1); diving (n=4); hockey (n=15); kayaking (n=1); rowing (n=11); soccer (n=15); squash (n=6); volleyball (n=13); waterpolo (n=18); and wrestling (n=16). The 181 female athletes competed in 15 different sports (aerobics (n=6); archery (n=2); basketball (n

Results

In order to assess the relationship between Perfectionism and SPA, zero-order and first order (partial) correlations, controlling for social desirability, were conducted for both males and females. In order to assess both the unique and joint contribution of Perfectionism and SPA to the prediction of disordered eating, a series of hierarchical regression analyses for both males and females were carried out with EAT scores serving as the dependent measure. The variables of interest were entered

Discussion

One purpose of the present study was to determine the relationship between perfectionism — both positive and negative — and SPA (a specific physique or body social anxiety) among male and female elite athletes. Our results showed that for both males and females, Negative Perfectionism was moderately and positively correlated with SPA, while Positive Perfectionism was unrelated to SPA (see Table 2). These findings are consistent with previous research that has shown maladaptive perfectionism

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by an Australia–New Zealand Sport Exchange Program Grant from Sport Science New Zealand and the Hillary Commission. A special note of thanks to the sport psychologists at all the institutes of sport involved with this exchange program.

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