Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS)

Instructions:

Please answer the following questions in relation to how much they apply to you. Do not spend too much time on any one question.

Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
1 My parents set very high standards for me. 1 2 3 4 5
2 Organization is very important to me. 1 2 3 4 5
3 As a child, I was punished for doing things less than perfectly. 1 2 3 4 5
If I do not set the highest standards for 1 2 3 4 5
4 myself, I am likely to end up a second-
rate person.
5 My parents never tried to understand my mistakes. 1 2 3 4 5
6 It is important to me that I be thoroughly competent in what I do. 1 2 3 4 5
7 I am a neat person. 1 2 3 4 5
8 I try to be an organized person. 1 2 3 4 5
9 If I fail at work/school, I am a failure as a person. 1 2 3 4 5
10 I should be upset if I make a mistake. 1 2 3 4 5
11 My parents wanted me to be the best at everything. 1 2 3 4 5
12 I set higher goals than most people. 1 2 3 4 5
If someone does a task at work/school 1 2 3 4 5
13 better than I do, then I feel as if I failed
the whole task.
14 If I fail partly, it is as bad as being a complete failure. 1 2 3 4 5
15 Only outstanding performance is good enough in my family. 1 2 3 4 5
16 I am very good at focusing my efforts on attaining a goal. 1 2 3 4 5
Even when I do something very 1 2 3 4 5
17 carefully, I often feel that it is not quite
right.
Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
  I hate being less than the best at things. 1 2 3 4 5
I have extremely high goals. 1 2 3 4 5
My parents expect excellence from me. 1 2 3 4 5
People will probably think less of me if I make a mistake. 1 2 3 4 5
I never feel that I can meet my parents’ expectations. 1 2 3 4 5
If I do not do as well as other people, it means I am an inferior being. 1 2 3 4 5
Other people seem to accept lower standards from themselves than I do. 1 2 3 4 5
If I do not do well all the time, people will not respect me. 1 2 3 4 5
My parents have always had higher expectations for my future than I have. 1 2 3 4 5
I try to be a neat person. 1 2 3 4 5
I usually have doubts about the simple everyday things that I do. 1 2 3 4 5
Neatness is very important to me. 1 2 3 4 5
I expect higher performance in my daily tasks than most people. 1 2 3 4 5
I am an organized person. 1 2 3 4 5
I tend to get behind in my work because I repeat things over and over. 1 2 3 4 5
It takes me a long time to do something “right”. 1 2 3 4 5
The fewer mistakes I make, the more people will like me. 1 2 3 4 5
I never feel that I can meet my parents’ standards. 1 2 3 4 5

Description

This inventory consists of 35 questions measuring four sub-scales of perfectionism: – Concern over mistakes and doubts about actions – Excessive concern with parents’ expectations and evaluation – Excessively high personal standards – Concern with “precision, order and organization” Setting excessively high standards is the most prominent feature of perfectionism, accompanied by tendencies for overly critical evaluations of one’s own behavior, expressed in over concern for mistakes and uncertainty regarding actions and beliefs. Some individuals take pride in their perfectionistic nature and such beliefs can be a key target for psychological intervention. This scale can be useful in highlighting that being highly perfectionist is in fact unhelpful. This test is appropriate for people 15 years and older and is especially appropriate for individuals with critical parents, anorexia, OCD traits or an anxiety disorder. Perfectionistic beliefs may be an important underlying cause of a range of psychopathologies.

Validity and Reliability

The Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale was created by Dr. Randy Frost and colleagues in 1990 and originally measured six sub-scales. Subsequent evaluation using principal components analysis found that four sub-scales were more appropriate. Stober (1998) validated the scale using 243 university student participants with an average age of 26.3 years. The validity of the scale has been widely established through convergence with other clinically significant problems, including anxiety in college students (Frost & Marten, 1990), insomnia (Lundh, Broman, Hetta, & Saboonchi, 1994), social phobia (Juster, Heimberg, Frost, Holt, Mattia, & Faccenda, 1996), obsessive-compulsive symptoms (Rheaume, Freeston, Dugas, Letarte, & Ladouceur, 1995) and anorexia nervosa (Bastiani, Rao, Weltzin, & Kaye, 1995). In fact, perfectionism may be the underlying trait in many of these problems.

Interpretation

Results consist of a Total Perfectionism score (total of subscales not including Organization) as well as four subscales, presented as raw scores and percentile ranks. The percentiles are based on the data from Stober’s (1998) sample of university students (mean age 26.3). Higher percentiles indicate more problems while a percentile closer to 50 represents the average response. High scores on the Organization subscale do not contribute to Total Perfectionism and are not intrinsically problematic, but combined with high scores on the other factors may exacerbate dysfunction. The four subscales are: -Concern over Mistakes and Doubts about Actions (Questions 9,10,13,14, 17,18,21,23,25,28,32,33,34) – Parental Expectations and Criticism (Questions 1,3,5,11,15,20,22,26,35) – Personal Standards (Questions 4,6,12,16,19,24,30) – Organization (Questions, 2,7,8,27,29,31)

Developer

Frost, R. O., & Marten, P. A. (1990). Perfectionism and evaluative threat. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 14, 559-572. Stober, J. (1998). The Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale: More perfect with four (instead of six) dimensions. Personality and Individual Differences, 24(4), 481-491.

Number Of Questions

35

References

Bastiani, A. M., Rao, R., Weltzin, T., & Kaye, W. H. (1995). Perfectionism in anorexia nervosa. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 17, 147-152.

Hawkins, C. C., Watt, H. M. G., Sinclair, K. E. (2006). “Psychometric Properties of the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale With Australian Adolescent Girls”. Educational and Psychological Measurement.

Lundh, L.-G., Broman, J.-E., Hetta, J., & Saboonchi, F. (1994). Perfectionism and insomnia. Scandinavian Journal of Behaviour Therapy, 23, 3-18.

Juster, H. R., Heimberg, R. G., Frost, R. O., Holt, C. S., Mattia, J. I., & Faccenda, K. (1996). Social phobia and perfectionism. Personality and Individual Differences, 21, 403-410.

Rhéaume, J., Freeston, M. H., Dugas, M. J., Letarte, H., & Ladouceur, R. (1995). Perfectionism, responsibility, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33, 785-794.

Developer Reference:

Frost, R. O., & Marten, P. A. (1990). Perfectionism and evaluative threat. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 14, 559-572.

Stober, J. (1998). The Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale: More perfect with four (instead of six) dimensions. Personality and Individual Differences, 24(4), 481-491.

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