Title of the article
The title of the article is Positive and Negative Perfectionism and the Big Five Personality Factors
Egan, S. J., Piek, J. P., & Dyck, M. J. (June 01, 2015). Positive and Negative Perfectionism and the Big Five Personality Factors. Behavior Change, 32, 2, 104-113.
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2. Purpose of the article
The purpose of this article is to inform the audience about the effects of perfectionism, whether negative or positive, on an individual’s personality based on the Big Five model. According to the authors, the aim of this study is to use a particular measure, which differentiates negative and positive perfectionism to explore personality in people high or low on negative and positive perfectionism.
The hypothesis of the study
The authors are trying to compare and contrast positive and negative perfectionism with the Big Five personality traits. These traits, which the authors want to use as the basis for comparison, are neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion and openness. Often, athletes tend to record lower scores on negative perfectionism compared to other groups. Therefore, this study builds on the hypothesis that athletes differ when it comes to personality traits.
Variables being looked at as an influence on personality
The variables being looked at as an influence on personality are positive and negative perfectionism. The study is investigating distinguishing variables to explore personality in people. Also, the authors want to see if the Big five theory influences perfectionism.
View of personality in this article compared with historical views of personality
According to this study, there is a literature gap in research focusing on positive and negative perfectionism and the relationship to personality. Moreover, emerging studies reveal a relationship between Geert Hoftede’s individualism, cultural factors, masculinity, uncertainty and power distance with the Big Five traits. The degree to which a given culture prioritizes individualism correlates with the degree of extroversion in that culture. On the other hand, cultures that accept inequalities within their power structures often score high on conscientiousness. There is no research that explains the reasons for these differences. However, this research area remains largely active.
Research design is used
There are various types of research designs that researchers can choose from to implement for their study. In this study, the researchers chose the mail survey method. A mail survey is a qualitative research design whereby the researchers mail out questionnaires to the study subjects. Typically, the researchers sent the questionnaire to 111 respondents and then selected the 20 subjects who scored the lowest on negative perfectionism for their study. Also, the researchers used clinical subjects who were enrolled from the psychology clinic found at Curtin University. The researchers used questionnaire based tools, precisely, survey, to collect information from the respondents.
Yes, this article was conducted in an ethical manner
I believe this study was carried out in an ethical manner. In research, ethics begins with informed consent. The researchers did not trick or coerce the respondents to participate in the study. When sending out the questionnaires, they informed the subjects about the purpose and nature of the research including the anticipated drawbacks of participation. Also, they allowed the participants to ask questions and gave them an opportunity to withdraw from the study, if they chose to. Confidentiality is another critical ethical consideration in research. The researchers in this study protected the confidentiality of the survey respondents. They never released the names, contacts and identifying details of the respondents. All the participants completed the consent forms before the study. Most importantly, the researchers obtained a formal approval from the Curtin University’s ethics Committee before launching the study.
Historically, there were numerous ethics codes for researchers in the field of personality psychology. These included the Declaration of Helsinki, the Nuremberg Code and the Belmont Report. Over the years, these ethical codes have been revised several times, and integrated into a unified code of ethics, known as the APA Code of Ethics. Today, APA Code of Ethics is the main point of reference when conducting personality psychology research. It includes numerous standards relevant to the clinical practice, but the standard considerations are integrity, debriefing, deception, informed consent and confidentiality.
