Relationships between shame-coping, fear of failure, and perfectionism in college athletes.

Abstract

Relationships among shame-coping, perfectionism, and fear of failure were examininedin a sample of college athletes. Shame and related negative emotions are commonly experienced among athletes after performance failures. According to Nathanson (1992), individuals may maladaptively respond to shame-provoking situations through one of four coping styles. We hypothesized that the magnitudes of the correlations between shame-coping styles versus perfectionism and fear of failure would be ordered by the degree to which the coping-styles involve consciousness and internalization of shame: Attack Self Withdrawal, Attack Other, and Avoidance. College athletes (N=285) completed the Compass of Shame Scale-Sport, the Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory, and the Perfectionism Inventory. Correlations among the variables indicated that differences in one's proneness to the four shame-coping styles significantly predict individual differences in tendencies toward fear of failure and perfectionism and supported the hypothesized order. Results revealed differences in shamecoping based on sport type and sex. Thus, Nathanson's compass of shame model may have important implications for athletes who suffer from maladaptive forms of perfectionism and fear of failure.