Do you want me to be perfect? Two longitudinal studies on socially prescribed perfectionism, stress and burnout in the workplace

Stress and burnout in the workplace have a negative impact on organizations and customers and are estimated to cost the economy billions every year. To help identify employees at high risk, it is important to know what individual differences contribute to stress and burnout. Two longitudinal studies were conducted to examine whether individual differences in socially prescribed perfectionism (individuals’ perceptions that others impose perfectionistic standards onto them) contribute to employees’ role stress and predict increases in burnout symptoms (exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy). Study 1 investigated 69 employees working in healthcare service provision over a 6-month interval, and Study 2 investigated 195 school teachers over a 3-month interval. In both studies, socially prescribed perfectionism predicted longitudinal increases in role stress and inefficacy. Moreover, in Study 2, socially prescribed perfectionism also predicted longitudinal increases in exhaustion and cynicism. The findings indicate that individual differences in socially prescribed perfectionism may be a contributing factor to stress and burnout in the workplace.