Positive and negative perfectionism of EFL and non-EFL major graduate students

Abstract

Perfectionism as a multidimensional personality construct is not a deeply explored land since accumulated evidence has mainly focused on negative perfectionism while very few studies have investigated positive perfectionism worldwide and particularly in Iran. Overall, not only has no comparison been made between general perfectionism of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) majors vs. non-EFL majors but also no study has yet investigated the Iranian graduate students’ perfectionism. To fill these gaps, this study compared the positive and negative perfectionism of EFL and non-EFL major graduate students and investigated whether there is any possible relationship between the participants’ major and positive and negative perfectionism development. To these aims, 73 graduate students (26 History and Philosophy of Education and 47 Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) students) from two Iranian state universities completed the 40-item Positive and Negative Perfectionism Scale (PANPS) of Terry-short, Owens, Slade, & Dewey (1995). The results of the independent samples t-test revealed that while both groups suffered from a slight degree of negative perfectionism, they equally benefited from high levels of positive perfectionism. These results may implicate strengthening the literature findings that positive perfectionism is corroborated during the Iranian early childhood bearing practices or the household child-parent interactions through the emphasis on the concepts of the best, flawlessness, orderliness, and positive striving. Moreover, they lend credence to the fact that the later-coming variables of academic major or EFL learning act have no considerable impact on the development of perfectionist attitudes.