Frost is one of the theorists who has made significant contributions to the field of perfectionism. He believed that perfectionism is not a single phenomenon, but rather consists of six components. According to Frost, perfectionism can be measured across these six dimensions.
Frost’s Components and Subcategories of Perfectionism (FMPS)
- High Personal Standards: Some individuals set higher standards for themselves compared to others. For example, while most people might settle for a regular car that simply serves the purpose of transportation, these individuals believe their car should meet high standards, such as having a better color, a more powerful air conditioning system, and generally more features and options.
- Concern Over Mistakes: One dimension of perfectionism is the worry about making mistakes. These individuals pay excessive attention to their errors and firmly believe that they should never make any mistakes. For instance, when giving a presentation, they are extremely cautious to avoid even a single typo in their PowerPoint slides, and they may be so hard on themselves that they don’t allow the possibility of stuttering during the presentation. If such an incident occurs, they would feel deeply distressed.
- Doubts about Actions: These individuals tend to procrastinate when starting tasks, and may even never start what they intended to do because they expect the task to reach an ideal level before taking any action. They are constantly uncertain whether to perform a particular task or not. They try to gather as much information as possible before taking any step.
For example, when presenting a university project, these individuals believe they must study more, spend more time, and act with extreme precision. This mindset often causes them to become very tired and exhausted, and they may even fail to present their project. - Parental Expectations: Some perfectionists believe they do not possess the three factors mentioned above, and it is their parents’ expectations that drive them to strive to be the best and achieve the best. In fact, these individuals’ perfectionism is highly correlated with their parents’ expectations.
For example, a person might believe that they have no desire to enter medical school at the University of Tehran, but because it is their parents’ wish, they go along with it. - Parental Criticism: Many perfectionists believe that they strive to perform at their best because of their parents’ criticism. Otherwise, they fear being scolded or reproached for why they didn’t do something or why they didn’t speak the way their parents expected.
- Organization: Some perfectionists strongly believe in complete discipline and well-planned actions. They constantly strive to keep everything in its proper place and ensure everything is done on time, at all times.
Each of the axes of perfectionism is not necessarily correlated with each other, in other words, a person who has high standards is not necessarily worried about mistakes. This principle is true for all six factors.
Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale(FMPS)
This test consists of 35 statements. Please read each statement carefully and indicate your level of agreement or disagreement with each statement by marking your response.
Important: It is recommended that you use a screen larger than your mobile phone (such as a tablet or laptop) to better display this table.
| ردیف | عبارت | کاملا مخالفم | مخالفم | نظری ندارم | موافقم | کاملا موافقم |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | والدینم معیارهای بسیار بالایی برایم در نظر می گیرند. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 2 | نظم و ترتیب برای من بسیار مهم است. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 3 | در کودکی، برای هر خطای ناچیزی سرزنش می شدم. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 4 | برای این که نتیجه رضایت بخشی از کارم بگیرم، همیشه باید حداکثر تلاشم را بکنم. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 5 | والدینم هرگز تلاشی برای درک اشتباهات من نمی کنند. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 6 | برایم خیلی مهم است تا کارهایم به نحو احسن انجام شود. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 7 | من یک شخص تمیز هستم. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 8 | من دوست دارم که فرد منظم و مرتبی باشم. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 9 | اگر در محل کار یا تحصیل شکست بخورم احساس یک بازنده را خواهم داشت. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 10 | اگر اشتباهی بکنم، حتما آشفته می شوم. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 11 | والدینم از من می خواهند که در انجام همه کارها بهترین باشم. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 12 | من به نسبت اکثر مردم، اهداف بالاتری را برای خود در نظر می گیرم. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 13 | اگر فردی در محل کار یا تحصیل، موفق تر از من باشد، احساس می کنم که در آن تکلیف شکست خورده ام. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 14 | اگر من در انجام بخشی از یک کار موفق نشوم، احساس می کنم که در تمام آن کار شکست خورده ام. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 15 | تنها عملکرد برجسته و ممتاز من، خانواده ام را راضی می کند. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 16 | من می توانم تمام تلاشم را برای رسیدن به یک هدف متمرکز کنم. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 17 | حتی وقتی که کاری را بسیار دقیق انجام می دهم، باز هم نسبت به نتیجه کار اطمینان کامل ندارم. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 18 | نمی توانم بپذیرم که در کاری نفر اول نباشم. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 19 | من اهداف بزرگ خیلی زیادی در سر دارم. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 20 | والدینم از من در حد عالی انتظار دارند. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 21 | دیگران کمتر از خودم، به اشتباهاتم اهمیت می دهند. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 22 | هیچ وقت احساس نکرده ام، که توانسته باشم انتظارات والدینم را بر آورده کنم. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 23 | اگر به اندازه دیگران موفق نباشم، احساس می کنم از همه ضعیف ترم. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 24 | به نظر می رسد، دیگران معیارهایی پایین تر از آنچه که من دارم، را می پذیرند. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 25 | اگر در کاری شکست بخورم، دیگران مثل قبل برایم احترام قایل نخواهند بود. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 26 | انتظارات والدینم برای آینده من، همیشه بالاتر از انتظارات خودم بوده است. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 27 | من سعی می کنم که فرد تمیزی باشم. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 28 | معمولا در مورد صحت کارهای ساده روزمره ام دچار تردید می شوم. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 29 | تمیزی برایم بسیار مهم است. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 30 | در انجام کارهای روزمره ام، به نسبت اغلب مردم، انتظارات زیادی از خودم دارم. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 31 | من یک فرد مرتب و منظم هستم. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 32 | من آن قدر در کارم غرق می شوم، که آن را بارها و بارها تکرار می کنم. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 33 | مدت زمان زیادی طول می کشد تا در انجام درست کاری موفق شوم. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 34 | هر چه کمتر اشتباه کنم، محبوب تر خواهم بود. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 35 | فکر نمی کنم هرگز بتوانم به ایده ال مورد نظر والدینم نزدیک شوم. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Scoring for the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS)
The scoring of this questionnaire is as follows:
First, you should assign the following scores based on your response:
“Strongly Disagree” = 1
“Disagree” = 2
“Neutral” = 3
“Agree” = 4
“Strongly Agree” = 5
Then, calculate the scores for the subscales as follows:
- Concern over Mistakes (CM): Questions 9, 10, 13, 14, 18, 21, 23, 25, 34
- Doubts about Actions (D): Questions 17, 28, 32, 33
- Parental Expectations (PE): Questions 1, 11, 15, 20, 26
- Parental Criticism (PC): Questions 3, 5, 22, 35
- Personal Standards (PS): Questions 4, 6, 12, 16, 19, 24, 30
- Organization (O): Questions 2, 7, 8, 27, 29, 31
- Total Score: The total score is the sum of the subscales, excluding the Organization (O) subscale. According to Frost et al. (1990, cited by Stober, 1998), the Organization subscale has little correlation with the overall questionnaire, and therefore, the questions related to this subscale (i.e., 2, 7, 8, 27, 29, and 31) should not be included in the total score. While some Persian sources mention that the total score should be calculated by adding all the questions, this is incorrect.
After calculating the total score and the subscale scores, please note that a higher score indicates higher perfectionism. Additionally, this questionnaire does not involve reverse scoring.