The Big Three Perfectionism Scale: Validation of the Polish Version

Abstract

The Big Three Perfectionism Scale (BTPS) was created to integrate different aspects of perfectionism, including the newly conceptualized concept of narcissistic perfectionism. The goal of our two studies ( N = 1341) was to examine the psychometric properties of the Polish adaptation of the BTPS, supporting the validity and portability of the measure. The studies were conducted among people who had a child, thus contributing to a better understanding of parental perfectionism, one of the key factors influencing parental well-being and a child’s functioning. Our analyses included investigating the structure of the scale, intercorrelations between subscales, reliability, and convergent validity by correlating BTPS scores with other measures of perfectionism and correlates of psychopathology (borderline symptoms) and parental difficulties (parental stress and parental burnout). Results supported the structure of the original BTPS. As predicted, confirmatory factor analysis indicated that items comprising the Polish adaptation of the questionnaire, like the original version, measure three related but specific aspects of perfectionism: rigid perfectionism, self-critical perfectionism, and narcissistic perfectionism. The three dimensions were also found to be specifically related to the difficulties experienced by parents. Further, the Polish version of the BTPS was found to have good internal reliability and validity. Our results from two independent Polish samples suggest that the Polish version of the BTPS is a psychometrically robust measure of perfectionism for assessing the three perfectionism factors.