Relationships Between Perfectionism, Stress, and Basic Need Support Provision in Dance Teachers and Aesthetic Sport Coaches

A substantial body of evidence links perfectionism to well-being and performance outcomes in dancers and athletes. Yet, we know relatively little about leaders’ perfectionism in dance and sport. This is important because leaders’ perfectionism likely impacts both themselves and their performers. In this study, we examined relationships between leader perfectionism, their provision of basic needs support, and whether stress explains these relationships. Aesthetic activity leaders (N = 463, n = 336 dance teachers, n = 127 aesthetic sport coaches, n = 376 female, M age = 35.47 years old, SD = 12.46) completed an online questionnaire measuring multidimensional perfectionism (self-oriented perfectionism, SOP; socially prescribed perfectionism, SPP; and other oriented perfectionism, OOP), self-reported provision of basic needs support (autonomy, competence, relatedness), and perceived stress. Correlations suggested that leaders displaying higher levels of any perfectionism dimension (SOP, SPP, and OOP) provided less support for autonomy, and perceived higher levels of stress. Leaders displaying higher levels of SPP also reported providing less support for competence. Structural equation modeling revealed that perceived stress partially mediated the relationships between perfectionism and provision of basic needs support. SPP shared a negative indirect relationship with autonomy support, as well as negative direct and indirect relationships with competence support, both via perceived stress. By contrast, OOP shared positive indirect relationships with autonomy support and competence support via perceived stress. Based on these findings, dance and sport organizations should minimize pressures on leaders to be perfect, help them identify how their perfectionism impacts both themselves and others, and work with them to optimize basic needs support.