Perfectionistic strivings and concerns are differentially associated with self-rated health beyond negative affect

- We examined how perfectionism dimensions were linked to self-rated health.
- Non-adjusted/adjusted effects from thirteen samples (N = 4991) were meta-analyzed.
- Perfectionistic concerns was associated with poor self-rated health.
- Perfectionistic strivings was modestly associated with better self-rated health.
- Associations were significant but attenuated after controlling for negative affect.

A growing literature on how perfectionism relates to self-reported physical health has rarely considered the role of negative affect or contextual factors. We addressed this by examining how Perfectionistic Concerns (PC) and Perfectionistic Strivings (PS) were associated with self-rated health across thirteen samples (total N = 4991) before and after controlling for negative affect, and meta-analyzed the effects. PC was associated with poor self-rated health, whereas PS was associated with good self-rated health. The associations were attenuated after adjusting for negative affect, but remained on average significant. The effects for PC were moderated by sample type, perfectionism measure, and sex. Findings suggest that the associations of perfectionism with subjective health are not solely due to biases associated with negative affect.