What Is Perfectionism?

In this episode I speak with Dr Andy Hill. Andy is a professor at York St John University. His research focuses on the antecedents and consequences of participation in sport and exercise. His main areas of interest are the consequences of perfectionism for athletes, exercisers, and youth sport participants. He has published in leading journals in sport and exercise psychology, health psychology, and general psychology on this topic.

Andy has written an insightful chapter in the book Handbook of Self-Regulation and Motivation. We speak about this chapter and explore what perfectionism is; perfectionism in sport; goal-setting; creating sporting environments that are healthy and less perfectionistic; and what things coaches can do to help athletes with perfectionistic tendencies.