How Other-Oriented Perfectionism Differs from Self-Oriented and Socially Prescribed Perfectionism: Further Findings

Investigating how other-oriented perfectionism (OOP) differed from self-oriented perfectionism (SOP) and socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP), Stoeber (Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 36, 329–338, 2014a) found OOP to show unique positive relationships with the Dark Triad personality traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy) and unique negative relationships with nurturance, intimacy, and social development goals. Aiming to expand on Stoeber’s findings, the present study examined 229 university students investigating the unique relationships of the three forms of perfectionism with humor styles, callous-unemotional-uncaring traits, social value orientations, self- and other-interest, and positive self-evaluations (positive self-regard, feeling superior to others). When multiple regressions were conducted controlling for the overlap between the three forms of perfectionism, OOP showed unique positive relationships with aggressive humor, uncaring traits, an individualistic orientation, and positive self-regard and unique negative relationships with a prosocial orientation and other-interest. In contrast, SOP showed unique positive relationships with affiliative humor and other-interest and unique negative relationships with aggressive humor, callous-uncaring traits, and a competitive orientation whereas SPP showed unique positive relationships with self-depreciating humor and unemotional traits and unique negative relationships with both forms of positive self-evaluations. The findings provide further evidence that OOP is a “dark” form of perfectionism positively associated with narcissistic, antisocial, and uncaring personality characteristics.