The relationship between perfectionism and creativity in competitive dancers: the moderating role of autonomy-supportive teachers

Abstract

Creativity is becoming an increasingly important aspect of being a successful dancer. Dancers are now being asked to be a part of the development and choreography of their routines and performance (Butterworth, 2004; Clements & Redding, 2020; Nordin-Bates & Abrahamsen, 2016). Perfectionism is also another common personality disposition present in dancers. The present study aimed to examine the relationship between multidimensional perfectionism and creativity among dancers and to test whether perceived teacher autonomy support moderated that relationship. A sample of 215 competitive dancers (Mage = 17.17, SD = 1.92) completed measures capturing variables of creativity (creative self-concept, attitudes and values towards creativity), 4 subtypes of perfectionism (pure personal standards perfectionism, pure evaluative concerns perfectionism, mixed perfectionism, non-perfectionism) and perceived autonomy support provided by their dance teacher in a cross-sectional research design. The findings of two iterative multiple regression analyses found a positive main effect for personal standards perfectionism and a negative main effect for evaluative concerns perfectionism in relation to creative self-concept and a negative main effect for evaluative concerns perfectionism in relation to attitudes and values towards creativity. These main effects supported all 4 hypotheses of the 2 × 2 model of perfectionism for creative self-concept and supported 3 hypotheses of the 2 × 2 model for attitudes and values towards creativity (H1c, H2, and H4). In addition, neither of the relationships were moderated by perceived teacher autonomy support. The discussion speculates as to why relationships were significant for pure evaluative concerns perfectionism across both relationships and pure personal standards perfectionism was only significant regarding creative self-concept.