Perfectionism, Health, and Well-being

It is well known that personality can confer risk or resilience for health and well-being. A growing body of research supports the idea that perfectionism, (i.e., the setting and striving for unrealistically high standards, accompanied by harsh self-criticism) can negatively impact not only mental health, but also physical health and well-being. This book brings together key perfectionism researchers and theorists to present their latest findings and ideas on how and why perfectionism may confer risk for health and well-being, as well as the contexts which may contour these associations. After presenting an overview of the conceptual and measurement issues surrounding the concept of perfectionism, three sections address the implications of perfectionism for health and well-being. Following a historical account of the role of perfectionism in illness and health problems, the first of these sections provides an overview of research and theory on the associations of perfectionism with health behaviors, stress and coping, and chronic illness. The next section of the book focuses on the cognitive and affective underpinnings of perfectionism as they relate to well-being. The final section of the book explores specific contexts and how they may contour the associations of perfectionism with health and well-being. By presenting the latest theory and research on perfectionism, health, and well-being, this book makes a unique contribution to the perfectionism literature and highlights the need to address the burden of perfectionism for health and well-being.

Dr. Fuschia Sirois is a Reader in the Department of Psychology at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom, and an adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Windsor where she was previously a faculty member. From 2011 to 2015 she held a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Health and Well-Being while she was a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Bishop’s University. She began studying the associations between personality, health, and well-being while completing her graduate studies at Carleton University (Ottawa) where she completed her Ph.D. in Social Psychology in 2003. She also received a pre-medical BSc. degree in Biochemistry/Nutrition from the University of Ottawa (1995) in addition to a BA hons. degree in Psychology (1996). Drawing from these diverse perspectives, Dr. Sirois's research is focused on understanding the psychological factors and qualities that may confer risk (perfectionism, procrastination) or resilience (self-compassion, future orientation) for physical health and well-being related outcomes through their links to self-regulation. She has published over 55 journal articles and book chapters on these topics, many in top tier peer-reviewed journals such asHealth Psychology, Social Science and Medicine, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, Quality of Life Research, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Self & Identity, Social and Personality Compass, Personality and Individual Differences, and the European Journal of Personality. She is also the co-author of the Canadian editions of Shelley Taylor's popularHealth Psychology textbook. Her research has been supported by the Social Sciences Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

Dr. Danielle Molnar is currently a Research Scientist at the Research Institute on Addictions, the State University of New York at Buffalo and an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Brock University. She began studying the role of perfectionism in health and well-being in community and clinical samples of adults while completing her Ph.D. in Social/Personality Psychology at Brock University (St. Catharines, Canada) in 2011. Her current research is concentrated on understanding the underlying processes linking perfectionism to health, such as stress, as well as studying these pathways within the context of the interpersonal world in which they occur. To this end, a central focus of her work is on examining the relationship between perfectionism and health in the context of romantic relationships. Dr. Molnar’s work has been supported by the Social Sciences Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and her research has been published in peer-reviewed journals such asJournal of Research in Personality, Personality and Individual Differences,Journal of Psychosomatic Research, Developmental Psychopathology, Psychology and Health, and the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.