Western Undergraduate Psychology Journal
Article Title
The Role of Perfectionism in Online Questionnaire Completion
Abstract
Perfectionism consists of two dimensions: perfectionistic strivings (extremely demanding personal standards) and perfectionistic concerns (fear of failure, concern over mistakes, and doubts about actions). Task efficiency (the ratio of resources input to task performance output) is negatively correlated with perfectionistic strivings. In the context of online questionnaires, task efficiency can be measured in terms of the time required to complete a questionnaire and the number of mouse clicks used to change responses. Perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns were thus predicted to be related to longer completion times and higher numbers of response revisions. Perfectionistic self-presentation (a behavioural facet of perfectionism) was hypothesized to be correlated with both perfectionism dimensions and to mediate the perfectionistic concerns-task efficacy relationship. To test this hypothesis, 130 undergraduate students completed online questionnaires measuring perfectionistic strivings, perfectionistic concerns, and perfectionistic self-presentation. Completion time and the number of mouse clicks were recorded. Significant relationships were found between both perfectionism dimensions and perfectionistic self-presentation. No other hypotheses were supported.
Recommended Citation
Toh, J., Saklofske, D., & Smith, M. (2015). The Role of Perfectionism in Online Questionnaire Completion. Western Undergraduate Psychology Journal, 3 (1). Retrieved from https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/wupj/vol3/iss1/8