Cognitive styles: links with perfectionistic thinking

This study examined the associations positive and negative perfectionism have with multiple cognitive processes including constructive thinking, emotional, behavioral, and ruminative coping and categorical thinking and stereotyping. The view taken in this study is that there is an essential distinction between positive and negative perfectionists. Results indicated that negative perfectionists were poor constructive thinkers and exhibited maladaptive coping in reaction to stress. Positive perfectionists were found to engage problems actively and to be conscientious. However they may preferentially react behaviorally rather than emotionally, and they were not as creative and free thinking as expected. Positive perfectionists endorsed positive stereotypes and negative perfectionists endorsed only negative ones.