Raising the Bar: Testing Prospective Relationships Between Multidimensional Trait Perfectionism and Undergraduate Academic Achievement

Abstract

Prospective associations between trait perfectionism and academic achievement among undergraduate students were tested via a random intercept cross-lagged panel model. Undergraduate students (N = 316) who were enrolled in the core first- and second-year courses of a social sciences undergraduate program (Mage = 18.01 years, SD = 0.06; 74.86% female) completed surveys on multidimensional perfectionism and authorized the use of institution-verified grades for research. At the between-persons level and in line with previous research, self-oriented perfectionism (SOP) was positively linked with academic achievement whereas socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP) was negatively related with academic achievement. At the within-persons level, an increase in academic achievement at the end of students’ first year of university, compared to their own personal mean, predicted an increase in SPP at the midterm of their second year of university, demonstrating that academic achievement may encourage undergraduate students to “raise the bar” via amplifying their perfectionistic tendencies.