How Are Perfectionism Groups Determined Among Korean College Students? Applying the Best-Fitting Short Form of Hewitt and Flett’s Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (HF-MPS) to a Korean Sample

Background: Perfectionism is a prominent personality trait in modern society, warranting further research across diverse cultural contexts to develop culturally appropriate measures and identify culture-specific perfectionism profiles. This study aims to identify perfectionism profiles and evaluate...

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Main Authors: Jungyeong Heo, Yaacov Petscher, Insu Paek
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:Psychology International
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2813-9844/6/4/64
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Summary:Background: Perfectionism is a prominent personality trait in modern society, warranting further research across diverse cultural contexts to develop culturally appropriate measures and identify culture-specific perfectionism profiles. This study aims to identify perfectionism profiles and evaluate the best-fitting short form of Hewitt and Flett’s Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (HF-MPS) within a Korean context. Methods: Data were collected from 276 Korean college students to compare three short forms of the HF-MPS: Cox et al.’s, Hewitt et al.’s, and a newly proposed version. Reliability and validity were assessed for each short form, and latent profile analysis with distal outcomes was conducted using the best-fitting short form to identify perfectionism profiles. Results: All three short forms demonstrated good reliability and validity. However, the newly proposed short form showed the highest alignment with the original scale and the best model fit. Using this short form, three perfectionism profiles were identified: high perfectionists (HiP), average perfectionists (AvP), and non-perfectionists (NP). Non-perfectionists displayed the most adaptive emotional adjustment, while high and average perfectionists exhibited similar levels of emotional adjustment. Conclusion: This study identified three distinct perfectionism profiles within a Korean sample using the best-fitting short form of the HF-MPS. Findings suggest that perfectionism factors may be more closely interrelated in this cultural context, with self-oriented or other-oriented perfectionism potentially buffering against emotional maladjustment. These results underscore the importance of culturally tailored approaches to understanding and assessing perfectionism.
ISSN:2813-9844