Abstract
In this chapter, we examine the tendency for vulnerable perfectionists to obsessively ruminate and cognitively perseverate in response to stress and to feelings of distress, and we introduce a cognitive theory of perfectionism. Our analysis includes an overview of the studies showing that various elements of trait perfectionism are associated with worry and ruminative brooding in maladaptive ways, which have significant implications for the onset and persistence of health and mental health problems. The vulnerability of both self-oriented perfectionism (SOP) and socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP) is jointly emphasized, as it is shown that both SOP and SPP are linked consistently with worry and rumination. The costs and consequences of this excessive cognitive perseveration are outlined within the context of a conceptual framework for our proposed cognitive theory of perfectionism. A central premise of perfectionism cognition theory is that certain perfectionists are chronically engaged in overthinking. We propose an expanded conceptualization of rumination in perfectionism that includes the tendency for perfectionists to experience frequent automatic thoughts about their need to be perfect and to engage in excessive mistake rumination, failure perseveration, and social comparison rumination. Our analysis of “perseverating perfectionists” emphasizes that their propensity to engage in various forms of ruminative thinking is deeply rooted in self and identity issues involving chronic self-uncertainty, self-doubt, a need for self-validation, and a chronic self-focus on the acceptability of dispositional characteristics. The role of cognitive perseveration in the health and mental health problems of vulnerable perfectionists is discussed.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aldao, A., Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Schweizer, S. (2010). Emotion-regulation strategies across psychopathology: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 217–237.
Arpin-Cribbie, C. A., & Cribbie, R. A. (2007). Psychological correlates of fatigue: Examining depression, perfectionism, and automatic negative thoughts. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 1310–1320.
Bandura, A. (1971). Social learning theory. New York: General Learning Press.
Bandura, A., & Kupers, C. J. (1964). Transmission of patterns of self-reinforcement through modeling. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 69, 1–9.
Bandura, A., Grusec, J. E., & Menlove, F. L. (1967). Some social determinants of self-monitoring reinforcement systems. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 5, 449–455.
Bandura, A., & Whelan, C. K. (1966). The influence of antecedent reinforcement and divergent modeling cues on patterns of self-reward. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 3, 373–382.
Besharat, M. A., & Shahidi, S. (2010). Perfectionism, anger, and anger rumination. International Journal of Psychology, 45, 427–434.
Besharat, M. A., Issazadegan, A., Etemadinia, M., Golssanamlou, S., & Abdolmanafi, A. (2014). Risk factors associated with depressive symptoms among undergraduate students. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 10, 21–26.
Besser, A., Flett, G. L., & Hewitt, P. L. (2004). Perfectionism, cognition, and affect in response to performance failure vs. success. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive Behavior Therapy, 22, 301–328.
Blankstein, K. R., & Lumley, C. H. (2008). Multidimensional perfectionism and ruminative brooding in current dysphoria, anxiety, worry and anger. Journal of Rational- Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 26, 168–193.
Blankstein, K. R., Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., & Eng, A. (1993). Dimensions of perfectionism and irrational fears: An examination with the fear survey schedule. Personality and Individual Differences, 15, 323–328.
Borkovec, T. D., Metzger, R. L., & Pruzinsky, T. (1986). Anxiety, worry, and the self. In L. M. Hartman & K. R. Blankstein (Eds.), Perception of self in emotional disorder and psychotherapy (pp. 219–260). New York: Plenum Press.
Borkovec, T. D., Alcaine, O., & Behar, E. (2004). Avoidance theory of worry and generalized anxiety disorder. In R. G. Heimberg, C. L. Turk, & D. S. Mennin (Eds.), Generalized anxiety disorder: Advances in research and practice (pp. 77–108). New York: Guilford Press.
Brosschot, J. F, Gerin, W., & Thayer, J. F. (2006). The preservative cognition hypothesis: A review of worry, prolonged stress-related physiological activation, and health. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 60, 113–124.
Brown, J. R., & Kocovski, N. L. (2014). Perfectionism as a predictor of post-event rumination in a socially anxious sample. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 32, 150–163.
Buhr, K., & Dugas, M. J. (2006). Investigating the construct validity of intolerance of uncertainty and its unique relationship with worry. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 20, 222–236.
Burns, D. D. (1980). Feeling good: The new mood therapy. New York: New American Library.
Burns, D. D., & Beck, A. T. (1978). Cognitive behavior modification of mood disorders (pp. 109–134). London; Plenum Press.
Burns, L. R., & Fedewa, B. A. (2005). Cognitive styles: Links with perfectionistic thinking. Personality and Individual Differences, 38, 103–113.
Chang, E. C. (2006). Conceptualization and measurement of adaptive and maladaptive aspects of performance perfectionism: Relations to personality, psychological functioning, and academic achievement. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 30, 677–697.
Chang, E. C., Zumberg, K. M., Sanna, L. J., Girz, L. P., Kade, A. M., et al. (2007). Relationship between perfectionism and domains of worry in a college student population: Considering the role of BIS/BAS motives. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 925–936.
Ciesla, J. A., & Roberts, J. E. (2007). Rumination, negative cognition, and their interactive effects on depressed mood. Emotion, 7, 555–565.
Clark, D. A., & Hemsley, D. R. (1985). Individual differences in the experience of depressive and anxious, intrusive thoughts. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 23, 625–633.
Connolly, S. L., Wagner, C. A., Shapero, B. G., Pendergast, L. L., Abramson, L. Y., et al. (2014). Rumination prospectively predicts executive functioning impairments in adolescents. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 45, 46–56.
Costello, E., & Borkovec, T. D. (1992). Generalized anxiety disorder. In A. Freeman & F. M. Datillo (Eds.), Casebook of cognitive therapy (pp. 53–60). New York: Springer.
Cox, S. L., & Chen, J. (2014). Perfectionism: A contributor to social anxiety and its cognitive processes. Australian Journal of Psychology.
Di Schiena, R., Luminet, O., Philippot, P., & Douilliez, C. (2012). Adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism in depression: Preliminary evidence of the role of adaptive and maladaptive rumination. Personality and Individual Differences, 53, 774–778.
Donahue, E. G., Forest, J., Vallerand, R. J., Lemyre, P. N., Crevier-Braud, L., & Bergeron, E. (2012). Passion for work and emotional exhaustion: The mediating role of rumination and recovery. Applied Psychology Health and Well-Being, 4, 341–368.
Egan, S. J., Hattaway, M., & Kane, R. T. (2014). The relationship between perfectionism and rumination in post traumatic stress disorder. Behvavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 42, 211–223.
Endler, N. S., Edwards, J. M., & Vitelli, R. (1991). Endler multidimensional anxiety scales (EMAS): manual. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.
Enns, M. W., & Cox, B. J. (2002). The nature and assessment of perfectionism. In G. Flett & P. Hewitt (Eds.), Perfectionism: Theory, research, and treatment (pp. 33–62). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Essau, C. A., Leung, P. W. L., Conradt, J., Cheng, H., & Wong, T. (2008). Anxiety symptoms in Chinese and German adolescents: Their relationship with early learning experiences, perfectionism, and learning motivation. Depression and Anxiety, 25, 801–810.
Flaxman, P. E., Menard, J., Bond, F.W., & Kinman, G. (2012). Academics’ experiences of a respite from work: Effects of self-critical perfectionism and perseverative cognition on postrespite well-being. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97, 854–865.
Flett, G. L. & Hewitt, P. L. (2014a). The assessment of perfectionism. In G. J. Boyle, D. H. Saklofske, & G. Matthews (Eds.), Measures of personality and social psychological constructs (Vol. 2, pp. 595–618). London: Elsevier.
Flett, G. L. & Hewitt, P. L. (2014b). The multidimensional assessment of perfectionistic automatic thoughts: A commentary on “Examining mutual suppression effects in the assessment of perfectionism cognitions: Evidence supporting multidimensional assessment.” Assessment, 21, 661–665.
Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Endler, N. S., & Tassone, C. (1994/1995). Perfectionism and components of state and trait anxiety. Current Psychology, 13, 326–350.
Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Blankstein, K. R., & Gray, L. (1998). Psychological distress and the frequency of perfectionistic thinking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 1363–1381.
Flett, G. L., Madorsky, D., Hewitt, P. L., & Heisel, M. J. (2002). Perfectionism cognitions, rumination, and psychological distress. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 20, 33–47.
Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Oliver, J. M., & Macdonald, S. (2002). Perfectionism in children and their parents: A developmental analysis. In G. Flett & P. Hewitt (Eds.), Perfectionism: Theory, research, and treatment (pp. 89–132). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Whelan, T., & Martin, T. R. (2007). The Perfectionism Cognitions Inventory: Psychometric properties and associations with distress and deficits in cognitive self-management. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 25, 255–277.
Flett, G. L., Newby, J., Hewitt, P. L., & Persaud, C. (2011). Perfectionistic automatic thoughts, trait perfectionism, and bulimic automatic thoughts in young women. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 29, 192–206.
Flett, G. L., Baricza, C., Gupta, A., Hewitt, P. L., & Endler, N. S. (2011). Perfectionism, psychosocial impact and coping with irritable bowel disease: A study of patients with crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Journal of Health Psychology, 16, 561–571.
Flett, G. L., Coulter, L., Hewitt, P. L., & Nepon, T. (2011). Perfectionism, rumination, worry, and depressive symptoms in early adolescents. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 26, 159–176.
Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Demerjian, A., Sturman, E. D., Sherry, S. B., & Cheng, W. (2012). Perfectionistic automatic thoughts and psychological distress in adolescents: An analysis of the perfectionism cognitions inventory. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 30, 91–104.
Flett, G. L., Molnar, D. S., Nepon, T., & Hewitt, P. L. (2012). A mediational model of perfectionistic automatic thoughts and psychosomatic symptoms: The roles of negative affect and daily hassles. Personality and Individual Differences, 52, 565–570. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.09.010.
Flett, G. L., Stainton, M., Hewitt, P. L., Sherry, S. B., & Lay, C. (2012). Procrastination automatic thoughts as a personality construct: An analysis of the procrastinatory cognitions inventory. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 30, 223–236.
Frost, R. O., & Henderson, K. J. (1991). Perfectionism and reactions to athletic competitions. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 13, 323–335.
Frost, R. O., Marten, P., Lahart, C., & Rosenblate, R. (1990). The dimensions of perfectionism. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 14, 449–468.
Frost, R. O., Trepanier, K. L., Brown, E. J., & Heimberg, R. G. (1997). Self-monitoring of mistakes among subjects high and low in perfectionistic concern over mistakes. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 21, 209–222.
Frost, R. O., Turcotte, T. A., Heimberg, R. G., Mattia, J. I., Holt, C. S., et al. (1995). Reactions to mistakes among subjects high and low in perfectionistic concern over mistakes. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 19, 195–205.
Gentes, E. L., & Ruscio, A. M. (2014). Perceptions of functioning in worry and generalized anxiety disorder. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 38, 518–529.
Grafton, B., & MacLeod, C. (2013). Don’t start what you can’t stop: Differentiating individual differences in ruminative onset and ruminative persistence, and their contributions to dysphoria. Emotion, 13, 1080–1085.
Gray, J. A. (1991). The neuropsychology of temperament. New York: Plenum Press.
Handley, A. K., Egan, S. J., Kane, R. T., & Rees, C. S. (2014). The relationships between perfectionism, pathological worry and generalised anxiety disorder. BMC Psychiatry, 14, 98–105.
Harris, P. W., Pepper, C. M., & Maack, D. J. (2008). The relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and depressive symptoms: The mediating role of rumination. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 150–160.
Hewitt, P. L., Caelian, C. F., Flett, G. L., Sherry, S. B., Collins, L., et al. (2002). Perfectionism in children: Associations with depression, anxiety, and anger. Personality and Individual Differences, 32, 1049–1061.
Hewitt, P. L., & Flett, G. L. (1991). Perfectionism in the self and social contexts: Conceptualization, assessment, and association with psychopathology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 456–470.
Hewitt, P. L., & Flett, G. L. (2002). Perfectionism and stress processes in psychopathology. In G. L. Flett & P.L. Hewitt (Eds.), Perfectionism: Theory, research, and treatment (pp. 255–284). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Hewitt, P. L., & Flett, G. L. (2004). Multidimensional perfectionism scale: Technical manual. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems Inc.
Hewitt, P. L., & Flett, G. L. (2007). When does conscientiousness become perfectionism? Current Psychiatry, 6, 49–60.
Hewitt, P. L., Flett, G. L., Turnbull-Donovan, W., & Mikail, S. F. (1991). The multidimensional perfectionism scale: Reliability, validity, and psychometric properties in psychiatric samples. Psychological Assessment, 3, 464–468.
Hewitt, P. L., Flett, G. L., Ediger, E., Norton, G. R., & Flynn, C. (1998). Dimensions of perfectionism and chronic symptoms of unipolar and bipolar depression. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 30, 234–242.
Hewitt, P. L., & Genest, M. (1990). The ideal self: Schematic processing of perfectionistic content in dysphoric university students. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 802–808.
Hill, A. P., & Appleton, P. R. (2011). The predictive ability of the frequency of perfectionistic cognitions, self-oriented perfectionism, and socially prescribed perfectionism in relation to symptoms of burnout in youth rugby players. Journal of Sports Sciences, 29, 695–703.
Hill, R. W., Huelsman, T. J., Furr, M., Kibler, J., Vicente, B. B., & Kennedy, C. (2004). A new measure of perfectionism: The Perfectionism Inventory. Journal of Personality Assessment, 82, 80–91.
Hoff, E. R., & Muehlenkamp, J. J. (2009). Nonsuicidal self-injury in college students: The role of perfectionism and rumination. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 39, 576–587.
Johnson, J. A., Key, B. L., Routledge, F. S., Gerin, W., & Campbell, T. S. (2014). High trait rumination is associated with blunted nighttime diastolic blood pressure dipping. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 48, 384–391.
Kawamura, K. Y., Hunt, S. L., Frost, R. O., & Marten DiBartolo, P. (2001). Perfectionism, anxiety, and depression: Are the relationships independent? Cognitive Therapy and Research, 25, 291–301.
Key, B. L., Campbell, T. S., Bacon, S. L, & Gerin, W. (2008). The influence of trait and state rumination on cardiovascular recovery from a negative emotional stressor. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 31, 237–248.
Khawaja, N.G., & Armstrong, K.A. (2005). Factor structure and psychometric properties of the frost multidimensional perfectionism scale: Developing shorter versions using an Australian sample. Australian Journal of Psychology, 57, 129–138.
Lakey, B., & Tanner, S. M. (2013). Social influences in negative thinking and affect. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 37, 160–172.
Leahy, R. (2002). Improving homework compliance in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58, 499–511.
Lemaire, M., El-Hage, W., & Frangou, S. (2014). Reappraising suppression: Subjective and physiological correlates of experiential suppression in healthy adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 5(571), 1–9.
Lyubomirsky, S., Layous, K., Chancellor, J., & Nelson, K. S. (2015). The scholarly contributions and intellectual legacy of Susan Nolen-Hoeksema. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 11, 4.1–4.22.
Macedo, A., Marques, M., & Pereira, A.T. (2014). Perfectionism and psychological distress: A review of the cognitive factors. Clinical Neurosciences and Mental Health, 1, 6.
Macedo, A., Soares, M. J., Amaral, A. P., Nogueira, V., Madeira, N., Roque, C., … Pereira, A. T. (2015). Repetitive negative thinking mediates the association between perfectionism and psychological distress. Personality and Individual Differences, 72, 220–224.
Martin, L. L., & Tesser, A. (1989). Toward a motivational and structural theory of ruminative thought. In J. S. Vlema & J. A. Bargh (Eds.), Unintended thought (pp. 306–326). New York: Guilford Press.
McCullough, M. E., Orsulak, P., Brandon, A., & Akers, L. (2007). Rumination, fear, and cortisol: An in vivo study of interpersonal transgressions. Health Psychology, 26, 126–132.
Meyer, T. J., Miller, M. L., Metzger, R. L., & Borkovec, T. D. (1990). Development and validation of the Penn State Worry questionnaire. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 28, 487–495.
Nepon, T., Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., & Molnar, D. S. (2011). Perfectionism, negative social feedback, and interpersonal rumination in depression and social anxiety. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 43, 297–308.
Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (1991). Responses to depression and their effects on the duration of depressive episodes. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 100, 569–582.
Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2003). Women who think too much. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin.
Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Morrow, J., & Fredrickson, B. L. (1993). Response styles and the duration of episodes of depressed mood. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 102, 20–28.
Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Wisco, B. E., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). Rethinking rumination. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3, 400–424.
O’Connor, D. B., O’Connor, R. C., & Marshall, R. (2007). Perfectionism and psychological distress: Evidence of the mediating effects of rumination. European Journal of Personality, 21, 429–452.
O’Connor, R. C., O’Connor, D. B., O’Connor, S. M., Smallwood, J., & Miles, J. (2004). Hopelessness, stress, and perfectionism: The moderating effects of future thinking. Cognition and Emotion, 18, 1099–1120.
Olson, M. L., & Kwon, P. (2008). Brooding perfectionism: Refining the roles of rumination and perfectionism in the etiology of depression. Cognitive Therapy Research, 32, 788–802.
Papadakis, A. A., Prince, R. P., Jones, N. P., & Strauman, T. J., (2006). Self-regulation, rumination, and vulnerability to depression in adolescent girls. Development and Psychopathology, 18, 815–829.
Randles, D., Flett, G. L., Nash, K. A., McGregor, I. D., & Hewitt, P. L. (2010). Dimensions of perfectionism, behavioral inhibition, and rumination. Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 83–87.
Roelofs, J., Papageorgiou, C., Gerber, R. D., Huibers, M., Peeters, F., & Arntz, A. (2007). On the links between self-discrepancies, rumination, metacognitions, and symptoms of depression in undergraduates. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 1295–1305.
Rudolph, S. G., Flett, G. L., & Hewitt, P. L. (2007). Perfectionism and deficits in cognitive emotion regulation. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 25, 343–357.
Rukmini, S., Sudhir, P. M., & Math, S. B. (2014). Perfectionism, emotion regulation and their relationship to negative affect in patients with social phobia. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 36, 239–245.
Ruscio, A. M., Seitchik, A. E., Gentes, E. L., Jones, J. D., & Hallion, L. S. (2011). Perseverative thought: A robust predictor of response to emotional challenge in generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 49, 867–874.
Santanello, A. W., & Gardner, F. L. (2006). The role of experiential avoidance in the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and worry. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 30, 319–332.
Sarason, I. G. (1978). The test anxiety scale: Concept and research. In C. D. Spielberger & I. G. Sarason (Eds.), Stress and anxiety (Vol. 5, pp. 193–216). Washington, DC: Hemisphere Publishing Corporation.
Shanmugasegaram, S., Flett, G. L., Madan, M., Oh, P., Marzolini, S., Reitav, J., Hewitt, P. L., & Sturman, E.C. (2014). Perfectionism, Type D personality, and illness-related coping styles in cardiac rehabilitation patients. Journal of Health Psychology, 19, 417–426.
Short, M. M., & Mazmanian, D. (2013). Perfectionism and negative repetitive thoughts: Examining a multiple mediator model in relation to mindfulness. Personality and Individual Differences, 55, 716–721. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2013.05.026.
Sirois, F. M., Monforton, J., & Simpson, M. (2010). “If only I had done better”: Perfectionism and the functionality of counterfactual thinking. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin ,36, 1675–1692.
Slaney, R. B., Rice, K. G., Mobley, M., Trippi, J., & Ashby, J. S. (2001). The almost perfect scale–revised. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 34, 130–145.
Smári, J., Olason, D. T., Eypórsdóttir, A., & Frölunde, M. B. (2007). Psychometric properties of the obsessive compulsive inventory-revised among Icelandic college students. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 48, 127–133.
Soo, H., Burney, S., & Basten, C. (2009). The role of rumination in affective distress in people with a chronic physical illness: A review of the literature and theoretical formulation. Journal of Health Psychology, 14, 956–966.
Spasojevic, J., & Alloy, L. B. (2001). Rumination as a common mechanism relating depressive risk factors to depression. Emotion, 1, 25–37.
Stöber, J., & Joormann, J. (2001). Worry, procrastination, and perfectionism: Differentiating amount of worry, pathological worry, anxiety, and depression. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 25, 49–60.
Stoeber, J., Kobori, O., & Tanno, Y. (2010). The multidimensional perfectionism cognitions inventory—english (MPCI-E): Reliability, validity, and relationships with positive and negative affect. Journal of Personality Assessment, 92, 16–25.
Tallis, F., Eysenck, M., & Mathews, A. (1992). A questionnaire for the measurement of nonpathological worry. Personality and Individual Differences, 13, 161–168.
Terry-Short, L. A., Owens, R. G., Slade, P. D., & Dewey, M. E. (1995). Positive and negative perfectionism. Personality and Individual Differences, 18, 663–668.
Thomsen, D. K., Mehlsen, M. Y., Hokland, M., Viidik, M., Olesen, F., et al. (2004). Negative thoughts and health: Associations among rumination, immunity, and health care utilization in a young and elderly sample. Psychosomatic Medicine, 66, 363–371.
Treynor, W., Gonzalez, R., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2003). Rumination reconsidered: A psychometric analysis. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 27, 247–259.
Verduyn, P., & Lavrijsen, S. (2015). Which emotions last longest and why: The role of event importance and rumination. Motivation and Emotion, 39, 119–127.
Verduyn, P., & Lavrijsen, S. (in press). Which emotions last longest and why: The role of event importance and rumination. Motivation and Emotion.
Verkuil, B., Brosschot, J. F., Gebhardt, W. A., & Thayer, J. F. (2011). Perseverative cognition, psychopathology, and somatic health. In I. Nyklicek (Ed.), Emotion regulation and well-being (pp. 85–100). New York: Springer.
Watkins, E. R. (2008). Constructive and unconstructive repetitive thought. Psychological Bulletin, 134, 163–206.
Watkins, E. R., & Nolen-Hoeksma, S. (2014). A habit-goal framework of depressive rumination. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 123, 24–34.
Whiting, S. E., Jenkins, W. S., May, A. C., Rudy, B. M., Davis, T. E., & Ruether, E. T. (2014). The role of intolerance of uncertainty in social anxiety subtypes. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 70, 260–272.
Whitmer, A. J., & Gotlib, I. H. (2013). An attentional scope model of rumination. Psychological Bulletin, 139, 1036–1061.
Wilson, C., Hunter, S. C., Rasmussen, S., & McGowan, A. (in press). They made you perfect: A test of the social reaction model of perfectionism. Aggressive Behavior.
Zoccola, P., Dickerson, S. S., & Lam, S. (2012). Eliciting and maintaining ruminative thought: The role of social-evaluative threat. Emotion, 12, 673–677.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Flett, G., Nepon, T., Hewitt, P. (2016). Perfectionism, Worry, and Rumination in Health and Mental Health: A Review and a Conceptual Framework for a Cognitive Theory of Perfectionism. In: Sirois, F., Molnar, D. (eds) Perfectionism, Health, and Well-Being. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18582-8_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18582-8_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-18581-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-18582-8
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)