Practitioner perfectionism: Relationship to ambiguity tolerance and work satisfaction

Data is presented indicating that perfectionism is negatively related to both tolerance of ambiguity and satisfaction of conducting psychotherapy in a sample of 197 doctoral-level, private-practice psychologists.

Abstract

Perfectionism among psychological practitioners is a common phenomenon, but a neglected topic in the research literature. This article presents data indicating that perfectionism is negatively related to both tolerance of ambiguity and satisfaction of conducting psychotherapy in a sample of 197 doctoral-level, private-practice psychologists. Results demonstrated that high, socially prescribed perfectionism and low tolerance of ambiguity are associated with reduced enjoyment of conducting psychotherapy. Several methods to self-evaluate and moderate perfectionism in clinicians are offered.