What is DAS self-critical perfectionism really measuring? Relations with the five-factor model of personality and depressive symptoms

This study sought to gain a better understanding of what self-critical (SC) perfectionism, assessed by the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS; Weissman & Beck, 1978), is measuring in a non-depressed sample of community adults (N = 223). DAS SC perfectionism measures, along with personal standards (i.e., self-oriented perfectionism) and other SC (i.e., socially prescribed perfectionism, self-criticism) measures of perfectionism, were related to the five domains and 30 facets of the revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R; Costa et al., 1992) and current depressive symptoms. Results indicated that DAS SC perfectionism was similar to socially prescribed perfectionism and self-criticism primarily in terms of moderate to large correlations with depressive symptoms and the neuroticism domain and facets, and negative correlations with the warmth, positive emotions, and trust facets. DAS SC/defensive separation perfectionism (i.e., DAS SC perfectionism with shared variance related to DAS need for approval removed) exhibited negative correlations with warmth and trust but was not related to neuroticism. In contrast to self-oriented perfectionism, the DAS SC perfectionism measures were unrelated or negatively related to the conscientiousness facets. These results suggest that DAS SC perfectionism more closely reflects self-critical than personal standards dimensions of perfectionism.