Table of Contents
Instructions:
Listed below are a variety of thoughts about perfectionism that sometimes pop into people’s heads. Please read each thought and indicate how frequently, if at all, the thoughts occurred to you over the last week. Please read each item carefully and click the appropriate response.
| Not At All | Sometimes | Moderately Often | Often | All of the time | ||
| Why can’t I be perfect | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| I need to do better | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| I should be perfect | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| I should never make the same mistake twice | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| I’ve got to keep working on my goals | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| I have to be the best | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| I should be doing more | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| I can’t stand to make mistakes | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| I have to work hard all the time | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| No matter how much I do, it’s never enough | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| People expect me to be perfect | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| I must be efficient at all times | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| My goals are very high | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| I can always do better, even if things are almost perfect | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| I expect to be perfect | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Not At All | Sometimes | Moderately Often | Often | All of the time | ||
| Why can’t things be perfect? | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| My work has to be superior | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| It would be great if everything in my life was perfect | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| My work should be flawless | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Things are seldom ideal | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| How well am I doing? | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| I can’t do this perfectly | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| I certainly have high standards | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Maybe I should lower my goals | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| I am too much of a perfectionist | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
Description
Validity and Reliability
Interpretation
Developer
Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Blankstein, K. R., & Gray, L. (1998). Psychological distress and the frequency of perfectionistic thinking. Journal of personality and social psychology, 75(5), 1363.
Number Of Questions
References
Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Blankstein, K. R., & Gray, L. (1998). Psychological distress and the frequency of perfectionistic thinking. Journal of personality and social psychology, 75(5), 1363.
Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Whelan, T., & Martin, T. R. (2007). The Perfectionism Cognitions Inventory: Psychometric properties and associations with distress and deficits in cognitive self-management. Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 25(4), 255-277.
The University of British Columbia. Perfectionistic Cognitions Inventory. Retrieved from https://hewittlab.psych.ubc.ca/measures-3/perfectionistic-cognitions-inventory-2/
Developer Reference:
Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Blankstein, K. R., & Gray, L. (1998). Psychological distress and the frequency of perfectionistic thinking. Journal of personality and social psychology, 75(5), 1363.
Cite this article
mohammad looti (2026). Perfectionistic Cognitions Inventory (PCI). PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Retrieved from https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/perfectionistic-cognitions-inventory-pci/
mohammad looti. "Perfectionistic Cognitions Inventory (PCI)." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 2 Apr. 2026, https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/perfectionistic-cognitions-inventory-pci/.
mohammad looti. "Perfectionistic Cognitions Inventory (PCI)." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 2026. https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/perfectionistic-cognitions-inventory-pci/.
mohammad looti (2026) 'Perfectionistic Cognitions Inventory (PCI)', PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Available at: https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/perfectionistic-cognitions-inventory-pci/.
[1] mohammad looti, "Perfectionistic Cognitions Inventory (PCI)," PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, vol. X, no. Y, ص Z-Z, April, 2026.
mohammad looti. Perfectionistic Cognitions Inventory (PCI). PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. 2026;vol(issue):pages.