THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHAMPTON

School of Social Sciences

Notes of Discord: The Relationship

Between Multidimensional
Perfectionism and Burnout in Amateur
and Professional Musicians

Rebecca Judith Linnett

July 2016

Submitted in part-fulfilment of the requirements for the BSc Psychology

degree as awarded by The University of Northampton.
 Declaration

I, Rebecca Judith Linnett, declare that this dissertation has been composed by myself,
and that the work presented herein is my own.

Where any work or material that is not entirely my own has been used, its source is
clearly stated and acknowledged.

Word Count: 9,932 words

Date: 24th July 2016

Rebecca Judith Linnett

 Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge my immense gratitude to those people who have supported
me in completing this research. Firstly, and most importantly, to my wife, Sarah, who
has indeed been given the grace to persevere, and who makes all of this worthwhile.

To my supervisor, Dr. Helen Clegg, for her patience, support and expert guidance, and
for always challenging me to produce the very best that I am capable of.

To Prof. Joachim Stoeber, of the University of Kent, for his advice and insight on the
measurement of multidimensional perfectionism.

To Simon Bradstreet, of the University of Glasgow, for kindly sharing with me his
knowledge about recruiting participants via social media.

To Aaron Vogel, of the Enderby Wind Band, Jack Lovell, of the Birmingham
Conservatoire, and Seb Huckle, of the City of London Sinfonia and formerly of the City of
Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, for their hard work in publicising this research
throughout the organisations they are a part of.

And finally, to my participants, particularly those members of the Birmingham Gay

Symphony Orchestra, a community of people that I am proud to call my friends.
 Table of Contents

Abstract ............................................................................................................... 1
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 2
What is perfectionism? ........................................................................................ 2
What is burnout?................................................................................................ 5
How does perfectionism contribute to burnout? ...................................................... 9
The current study ............................................................................................. 10
Method .............................................................................................................. 12
Design ............................................................................................................ 12
Participants ..................................................................................................... 12
Exclusion criteria. ............................................................................................. 12
Recruitment. ................................................................................................... 13
Materials ......................................................................................................... 14
Procedure ....................................................................................................... 17
Ethical considerations ....................................................................................... 18
Results .............................................................................................................. 19
Comparing amateur musicians with amateur sportspeople .................................... 21
Comparing amateur musicians with professional musicians.................................... 22
Comparing professional musicians with non-musicians .......................................... 24
Discussion .......................................................................................................... 25
Comparing amateur musicians with amateur sportspeople .................................... 26
Comparing professional musicians with amateur and non-musicians. ...................... 29
Future research directions ................................................................................. 33
Limitations ...................................................................................................... 34
Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 34
References ......................................................................................................... 36
Appendix A: Social media advertisements .............................................................. 48
Appendix B: Demographic questionnaire ................................................................ 49
Appendix C: Musical category questionnaire ........................................................... 51
Appendix D: Perfectionism questionnaire................................................................ 52
Appendix E: Burnout questionnaire........................................................................ 55
Appendix F: Participant Information Sheet.............................................................. 56
Appendix G: Consent Form ................................................................................... 59
Appendix H: Participant Debrief Sheet ................................................................... 60
Appendix I: Confirmation Page.............................................................................. 61
Appendix J: Confirmation of ethical approval .......................................................... 62
 Abstract

Perfectionism is a multidimensional construct characterised by high personal standards,

high levels of self-critical evaluation and concern over mistakes (Frost, Marten, Lahart, &

Rosenblate, 1990). People who score highly in Perfectionistic concerns (PC), the

maladaptive dimension of perfectionism, are more likely to experience burnout (A. P. Hill

& Curran, 2015), a psychological syndrome that develops from chronic interpersonal

stressors in the workplace and an imbalance between demands and resources (Maslach,

Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001). Burnout exists across many domains (e.g. work, sport and

education) and there are domain-dependent differences in the relationship between

perfectionism and burnout (A. P. Hill & Curran, 2015). This study examines whether

music as a domain is also associated with differences in this relationship. Participants

(N=246) self-categorised as either professional, amateur or non-musicians and

completed online questionnaires consisting of a combined perfectionism measure

(Stoeber & Madigan, 2016) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey

(Schaufeli, Leiter, Maslach, & Jackson, 1996). Correlations were calculated between the

dimensions of perfectionism and burnout for each group to ascertain the degree to which

each component of perfectionism uniquely contributed to burnout. Results showed that

PC contributed significantly more to the Exhaustion component of burnout in amateur

musicians as compared to other amateurs in the domain of sports (z = 2.51, p = .01)

and significantly more to the Reduced efficacy component of burnout in professional

musicians as compared to both non-musicians (z = 2.22, p = .01) and amateur

musicians (z = -2.18, p = .01). Findings were related to existing burnout theory and

recommendations made for future research into whether there are unique characteristics

of burnout in musicians.

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 Notes of Discord: The Relationship Between Multidimensional Perfectionism
and Burnout in Amateur and Professional Musicians

What is perfectionism?

Perfectionism is a multidimensional construct (Frost et al., 1990) that is

characterised by high personal standards, a high level of self-critical evaluation and

concern over mistakes (A. P. Hill & Curran, 2015). It was originally thought to be a

unidimensional construct, with all forms of perfectionism being closely related to

psychopathology (Stoeber & Otto, 2006), but it is now widely acknowledged that

perfectionism is multidimensional and varies along a continuum, with a person

potentially displaying varying amounts of overall perfectionism as well as varying

amounts of the characteristics which underpin its various subscales (Frost et al., 1990).

Hamachek’s (1978) seminal paper on ‘normal’ and ‘neurotic’ perfectionists was

one of the first to outline the idea that perfectionism may not always be so closely

related to psychopathology and that some people may be high in perfectionism whilst

still remaining psychologically healthy. Hamachek (1978) conceptualised ‘normal’

perfectionists as people who have high standards but can still consider their work

successful even if it contains minor flaws. They derive pleasure from being careful and

meticulous and the fruits of their efforts bring them a sense of satisfaction. ‘Normal’

perfectionists still desire the approval of others, but rather than being dependent on it,

they experience it as an encouragement, an addition to the self-satisfaction of seeing

that they have done a job well. In comparison, ‘neurotic’ perfectionists are described by

Hamachek (1978) as having similarly high standards but also as being exceptionally self-

critical. ‘Neurotic’ perfectionists never feel that they have completed anything to a good

enough standard and consequently are denied a sense of satisfaction once they have

completed a task. As Frost et al. (1990) later noted, the ‘neurotic’ perfectionist’s over-

concern about mistakes leads them to be driven by a fear of failure rather than a need

for achievement.

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 Hamachek (1978) posited that the difference between ‘normal’ and ‘neurotic’

perfectionists is noticeable not only in their style of work but also in their style of

thinking about how to approach a task. ‘Normal’ perfectionists create performance

boundaries for themselves based on their strengths and limitations, ensuring that their

expectations are reasonable and realistic and that therefore success is possible.

Conversely, ‘neurotic’ perfectionists demand an unattainably high level of performance

from themselves and demonstrate a dichotomous thinking style whereby performance

must be perfect otherwise it is considered worthless (Burns, 1980 as cited in Frost et al.,

1990). As Hamachek (1978) noted, ‘normal’ perfectionists focus on how to do things

right whilst ‘neurotic’ perfectionists focus on how to avoid doing things wrong. In terms

of self-worth and identity, Hamachek (1978) observed that whilst the ‘neurotic’

perfectionist over-values performance and undervalues their self, ‘normal’ perfectionists

feel that even when their performance is imperfect, the ‘self’ involved in it is still good

enough.

Whilst Hamachek’s (1978) work was primarily narrative, subsequent

developments in the study of perfectionism have often focused more on attempting to

form methods of quantifying and measuring the construct. It is now generally

acknowledged amongst researchers that perfectionism appears to have two over-arching

dimensions (Stoeber & Otto, 2006); whilst these have been conceptualised and defined

in a variety of ways, they remain broadly connotative of positive or negative outcomes.

For example, ‘positive striving’ and ‘maladaptive evaluation concerns’ (Frost, Heimberg,

Holt, Mattia, & Neubauer, 1993); ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ perfectionism (Terry-Short,

Owens, Slade, & Dewey, 1995); ‘active’ and ‘passive’ perfectionism (Adkins & Parker,

1996); ‘adaptive’ and ‘maladaptive’ perfectionism (Rice, Ashby, & Slaney, 1998);

‘functional’ and ‘dysfunctional’ perfectionism (Rhéaume et al., 2000); ‘healthy’ and

‘unhealthy’ perfectionism (Stumpf & Parker, 2000); ‘personal standards’ and ‘evaluative

concerns’ perfectionism (Blankstein & Dunkley, 2002); and ‘conscientious’ and ‘self-

evaluative’ perfectionism (R. W. Hill et al., 2004). However, as Stoeber and Otto (2006)

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note, the most commonly used terminology in recent years is that of ‘perfectionistic

strivings’ (hereafter, PS) and ‘perfectionistic concerns’ (hereafter, PC).

Stoeber and Otto (2006) define PS as a positive dimension that is concerned with

high personal standards and self-oriented (intrinsically motivated) perfectionism (see

also Gotwals, Stoeber, Dunn, & Stoll, 2012). Conversely, PC is described as a negative

dimension that is focused on concern over making mistakes, self-doubt about actions,

socially prescribed (extrinsically motivated) perfectionism and a perceived discrepancy

between actual achievements and high expectations (Gotwals et al., 2012; Stoeber &

Otto, 2006). Gotwals et al. (2012) also posit that fear of negative social evaluation and

negative reactions to imperfection are characteristic of PC.

PC (or its negative equivalent from the above list) has been found to be

associated with an array of maladaptive outcomes (A. P. Hill & Curran, 2015), such as

low levels of trait emotional intelligence, anxiety, stress (Smith, Saklofske, & Yan, 2015),

depressive symptoms (Békés et al., 2015; Smith et al., 2015), psychological distress

(James, Verplanken, & Rimes, 2015), avoidant coping strategies (Moroz & Dunkley,

2015) and eating disturbances (Muyan, Chang, Jilani, & Yu, 2015; Shanmugam &

Davies, 2015). Consequently, it has been generally concluded that PC as a construct is

solely maladaptive (Gotwals et al., 2012; Stoeber & Otto, 2006). In comparison, PS (or

its positive equivalent) usually leads to comparatively few maladaptive outcomes and is

often associated with adaptive characteristics (A. P. Hill & Curran, 2015) such as high

levels of trait emotional intelligence, satisfaction with life (Smith et al., 2015), better

exam performance and the tendency to set task-approach goals (Stoeber, Haskew, &

Scott, 2015).

It is important to note, however, that there is a large body of evidence to suggest

that, in clinical populations, both dimensions of perfectionism can contribute towards

maladaptive outcomes (e.g. Boone & Soenens, 2015; Cheng et al., 2015). It is posited

that this may be because outcome expectancy is a key factor in determining whether

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perfectionism leads to adaptive or maladaptive outcomes (Cheng et al., 2015). In the

case of clinically depressed individuals, positive outcome expectancy is likely to be low

and therefore perfectionism is more likely to lead to maladaptive outcomes. Shafran,

Cooper and Fairburn (2002) similarly contend that in clinical cases, the individual

displays ‘clinically-relevant perfectionism’, investing their self-worth almost obsessively

in a domain that has high personal salience. If, as is the case with eating disordered

individuals, body dissatisfaction is highly relevant to them, individuals will focus their

perfectionism on the pursuit of thinness, as this is where their self-worth is placed

(Boone & Soenens, 2015). Both PC and PS are therefore thought to interact with

existing psychopathology to bring about maladaptive outcomes in clinical populations.

What is burnout?

One outcome that has consistently been found to be strongly related to

perfectionism is that of burnout (A. P. Hill & Curran, 2015), a multidimensional

psychological syndrome that is thought to develop as a result of chronic interpersonal

stressors in the workplace and an imbalance between demands and resources (Leiter,

1993; Maslach et al., 2001; Maslach, 2015). Burnout consists of three key dimensions:

‘Exhaustion’, characterised by a depletion of emotional resources and a feeling of being

overwhelmingly mentally exhausted or over-extended; ‘depersonalisation’, which refers

to the development of a cynical or detached attitude, a loss of emotional or cognitive

involvement with the work and a negative or excessively detached response to various

aspects of the job; and ‘reduced efficacy’, which is concerned with an actual or perceived

reduction in personal efficacy or accomplishment and feelings of incompetence (Maslach

& Jackson, 1981; Maslach, 2015). As initial work on burnout focused on its prevalence

within the caregiving or service industries, where a central component of the job is

providing services or care for another person (Maslach, 2015), the symptoms of burnout

originally referred specifically to interactions with the people who receive these services.

However, as burnout theory has been developed to also include non-service jobs,

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symptoms of burnout have been expanded to refer to work activities more generally (A.

P. Hill & Curran, 2015).

Typically, it is theorised that burnout begins with the exhaustion component, and

that this leads to depersonalisation, with reduced efficacy developing either at the same

time as, or as a consequence of, depersonalisation (A. P. Hill & Curran, 2015; Maslach et

al., 2001; Maslach, 2015). In fact, exhaustion is considered so central to the notion of

burnout that other conceptualisations of the construct have focused almost solely on the

this component, drawing distinctions between aspects of exhaustion such as ‘physical

fatigue’, ‘emotional exhaustion’ and ‘cognitive weariness’ (Shirom & Melamed, 2005) or

‘physical’ and ‘psychological’ exhaustion (Kristensen, Borritz, Villadsen, & Christensen,

2005). However, Maslach and colleagues contend that just because exhaustion is a

necessary contributor to burnout does not mean it is a sufficient one (e.g. Maslach et al.,

2001; Maslach, 2015), as there is consistent evidence from burnout research to

demonstrate that there is a strong link between exhaustion and depersonalisation and

that exhaustion inevitably leads to depersonalisation and reduced efficacy (Maslach et

al., 2001; Maslach, 2015).

Burnout has been linked to a plethora of negative health outcomes, with its

impact on mental health being so severe that initial work in the field focused on

distinguishing burnout from clinical depression (Freudenberger, 1974). There is

evidence linking burnout with greater anxiety, irritability and depression (Maslach,

2015), insomnia (Maslach & Jackson, 1981) and increased use of alcohol and/or drugs

(Maslach & Jackson, 1981; Maslach et al., 2001), and the exhaustion component has

been found to be predictive of stress-related health outcomes to the same extent as

other indices of prolonged stress (Maslach et al., 2001; Maslach, 2015). Burnout has

also been shown to have a negative ‘spill-over’ effect on a person’s home life (Burke &

Greenglass, 2001; Maslach et al., 2001), leading to conflict with friends and family and

the feeling of being emotionally distant from loved ones (Maslach & Jackson, 1981).

Occupationally, burnout has been linked to absenteeism, desire to leave the job and

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actual turnover (Maslach et al., 2001; Maslach, 2015). Those who stay at work

demonstrate decreased motivation, poorer performance (Bakker, Van Emmerik, & Van

Riet, 2008; Cresswell & Eklund, 2007; Yang, 2004) lower productivity and effectiveness

(Maslach et al., 2001; Maslach, 2015), reduced job satisfaction and reduced commitment

to the job and/or organization (Maslach et al., 2001). Maslach and Jackson (1981) also

found that employees with high levels of burnout showed dissatisfaction with

opportunities for personal growth and job development, believed that their work was not

very meaningful or worthwhile, and lacked knowledge about how effectively they were

performing in their job. As a result, their burnout is ‘contagious’ (Maslach et al., 2001);

burned out employees have been found to contribute to increased burnout in their

colleagues by causing greater interpersonal conflict and disrupting job tasks.

Social and organizational conditions have been found to be the primary correlates

of burnout across many occupations and from the outset it has been researched in terms

of relational transactions in the workplace and not as an individual stress response

(Maslach et al., 2001). Job characteristics that contribute to burnout include workload,

time pressure, lack of feedback on job performance, lack of autonomy and lack of

involvement in decision making (Maslach et al., 2001). Lack of social support was also

found to contribute to burnout, with lack of support from management having a greater

detrimental effect than lack of support from peers (Maslach et al., 2001). Severity of

client problems, role ambiguity and role conflict were also found to lead to higher levels

of burnout (Maslach et al., 2001). With regards to initial work on burnout in the service

professions, the emotional challenges of working intensively with other people were also

found to account for additional variance in burnout levels over and above job stressors

(Zapf, Seifert, Schmutte, Mertini, & Holz, 2001). Prior research has tended to focus

solely on the immediate work context, but in recent years it has been increasingly

acknowledged that the workplace is now subject to wider organizational hierarchies,

operating rules, resources and space distribution, all of which have considerable

implications for the workforce, particularly when organizational priorities are at odds with

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individual notions of fairness and equity (Maslach et al., 2001). Furthermore, the

organizational context is shaped by larger cultural, social and economic forces, with

downsizing and mergers having a significant effect on employees who are increasingly

expected to give more and receive less (Maslach et al., 2001). As Rousseau (1995)

notes, these latter expectations erode the notion of reciprocity, which is crucial to

employee well-being.

Overall, relationships between individual characteristics and burnout are much

smaller than those between burnout and situational factors and it is generally accepted

that burnout is more of a social and organizational phenomenon than an individual one

(Maslach et al., 2001). However, Maslach et al. (2001) also acknowledge that people

bring unique qualities – such as demographic variables, enduring personality

characteristics and work related attitudes – to the work relationship. In terms of age,

burnout has been found to be higher in younger employees than those over 30-40 years,

although this is confounded by experience levels, with those earlier on in their career

being more at risk (Maslach et al., 2001). Maslach et al. (2001) contend that this could

be due to ‘survival bias’, arguing that those who burn out early in their careers are more

likely to leave their job, and that therefore research that takes place within an

organizational context is more likely to see the ‘survivors’ who are exhibiting lower levels

of burnout. However, it could also be argued that people higher up the career ladder are

more fairly remunerated and subject to fewer unfair demands than their younger, less

experienced counterparts and that this, in part, may be why they exhibit lower burnout

levels. There is no consistent evidence to suggest that gender is a predictor of burnout

levels, and ethnicity has so far been assessed in too few studies to ascertain whether

there is a predictive relationship (Maslach et al., 2001). Education has, however, been

shown to have an effect, with more highly educated people experiencing higher levels of

burnout, but this is again confounded with such variables as age, occupation and status.

Maslach et al. (2001) contend that this can potentially be explained in terms of more

highly educated people having jobs that involve more responsibility and more stress.

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Similarly, they have theorised that more highly educated people may have higher

expectations for their jobs and therefore may experience greater levels of distress if

these expectations are not met.

How does perfectionism contribute to burnout?

In terms of personality traits, those that are most commonly associated with

burnout are low levels of hardiness (that is, involvement in daily activities, sense of

control over events and openness to change), an external locus of control and low self-

esteem (Maslach et al., 2001). It has also been found that passive and defensive coping

styles are linked to higher levels of burnout than active and confrontational styles

(Maslach et al., 2001). This is further supported by Semmer and Meier (2009), who

contend that people with low levels of hardiness, poor self-esteem, an external locus of

control and an avoidant coping style are more likely to be stressed. In terms of the Five

Factor Model (e.g. McCrae & Costa, 1987), burnout is linked with high levels of

neuroticism, a personality trait that is typified by anxiety, angry hostility, depression,

self-consciousness, impulsiveness and vulnerability (Maltby, Day, & Macaskill, 2007).

Whilst, evidently, there are a number of personality traits and individual differences that

are associated with burnout, perfectionism is of interest because its dimensions

contribute to burnout in unique – and, in fact, opposing – ways. A recent meta-analysis

of 43 studies, encompassing 9,838 participants, found that PC showed medium-to-large

correlations with overall burnout, exhaustion, cynicism and reduced efficacy (A. P. Hill &

Curran, 2015). In comparison, PS was found to be a protective factor, showing small-to-

medium negative correlations with burnout and all of its dimensions (A. P. Hill & Curran,

2015).

Within this meta-analysis, A. P. Hill and Curran (2015) also investigated whether

domain, in terms of sport, work or education, made a difference to the perfectionism-

burnout relationship. They argued that there are key differences between these three

domains which may lead to differences in the way that perfectionism contributes to

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burnout. For example, in sport, flawless performance is often required and therefore

perfectionism is encouraged. However, amateur sport is usually a more freely chosen

activity than work or education, meaning there is less potential for ‘entrapment’. In

addition, amateur sport is usually more intrinsically motivated, which protects against

burnout. In comparison, the domain of work is extrinsically motivated – by financial

remuneration – and there is high potential for entrapment because work is a necessary

element of most adults’ lives and people are therefore less able to remove themselves

from stressful situations. When they compared these domains, A. P. Hill and Curran

(2015) found that PS is negatively correlated with overall burnout and all of its

dimensions across all three domains, but that it protects more against burnout in

education and sport than it does in work. Similarly, whilst PC was positively correlated

with overall burnout and all of its dimensions across all three domains, it was found to

be most problematic in work, particularly in terms of overall burnout and cynicism.

The current study

Whilst not included in A. P. Hill and Curran’s (2015) meta-analysis, another

domain which could arguably be considered worthy of consideration is that of the arts.

Like sports, music demands a high level of perfectionism (Dews & Williams, 1989), but is

often intrinsically motivated and, at least in amateur music, has less potential for

entrapment. Furthermore, the distinction between facilitating and debilitating levels of

stress or anxiety is a fine one for performers (Mor, Day, Flett, & Hewitt, 1995), much as

would be expected for sportspeople, and musical training, like athletic training, often

begins at an early age and continues indefinitely (Dews & Williams, 1989).

Consequently, one might expect the relationship between perfectionism and burnout to

be similar in both amateur musicians and amateur sportspeople.

However, for professional musicians, there are added pressures; as Mor et al.

(1995) observe, the need to perform to exceptionally high standards is particularly

salient when your livelihood depends upon meeting those standards – as one musician

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notes, “you’re only as good as your last gig” (Cooper & Wills, 1989, p.25). Professional

musicians are also more likely to feel controlled by others, a factor which increases the

likelihood of maladaptive outcomes (Stoeber & Eismann, 2007). In this sense, the way

in which perfectionism contributes to burnout in professional musicians might be

expected to bear more similarity to the effect sizes found in non-musicians – that is,

workers in general – in whom PS was less protective against burnout and PC was more

problematic (A. P. Hill & Curran, 2015). However, the working conditions of professional

musicians have been said to create a working environment which far exceeds, in terms

of stress levels, that of other professions, as they live with the burden of having

perfectionistic ideals but, inevitably, imperfect execution (Sternbach, 1995). As a result,

this may actually lead to professional musicians displaying higher levels of burnout than

non-musicians (workers in general). Consequently, the aims of this research were

threefold:

1. To examine whether there are similarities in the perfectionism-burnout

relationship between amateur musicians and the sportspeople in A. P. Hill and

Curran’s (2015) analysis; it was expected that the strength of the perfectionism-

burnout relationship would be similar in these two groups.

2. To examine whether there is a difference in the perfectionism-burnout

relationship between amateur musicians and professional musicians. Here, it was

expected that, in comparison to amateur musicians, professional musicians would

show smaller negative correlations between PS and burnout and larger positive

correlations between PC and burnout.

3. To examine whether there are similarities in the perfectionism-burnout

relationship between professional musicians and workers in general (the non-

musician group). It was expected that, in comparison to workers in general,

professional musicians would show smaller negative correlations between PS and

burnout and larger positive correlations between PC and burnout.

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 Method

Design

The study employed a quasi-experimental, between-groups design, using online

questionnaires. The study had one IV, Musical category (non-musician, amateur

musician or professional musician), and two continuous DVs; Perfectionism and Burnout.

Perfectionism was split into Perfectionistic strivings (PS) and Perfectionistic concerns

(PC), whilst Burnout was measured both overall and in terms of its component parts:

Exhaustion, Cynicism and Reduced efficacy.

Participants

Two hundred and sixty-four adults volunteered to take part in the study. Of

these, the data from 9 had to be removed because the participants indicated that they

were either retired (n = 1) or unemployed (n =8), which went against exclusion criteria

(see below). The data from a further 9 participants also had to be removed as a missing

values analysis indicated that these participants had omitted more than 10% of the

questions on either the perfectionism (n = 3) or burnout (n = 6) questionnaires.

Consequently, participants whose data were used for analysis were 246 adults aged

between 18 and 65 (𝑋̅ = 36.3 years, SD = 11.7 years), consisting of 106 non-musicians,

112 amateur musicians and 28 professional musicians. Additional demographic

information can be seen in Table 1.

Exclusion criteria. Participants were required to be in some form of paid

employment, as the burnout measure contained questions that related to the person’s

job. In addition, people who did not consider themselves to be musicians, but who were

in professions where they might have a close relationship with music (e.g. dancers or

choreographers) were not able to take part because, while they would identify as non-

musicians, they were likely to have shared characteristics with amateur and professional

musicians which would have skewed the data in the non-musician category.

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Table 1
Demographic characteristics of participants
Characteristic n %
Gender
Female 194 78.9
Male 48 19.5
Other 4 1.6
Ethnic background
White 225 91.5
Mixed/multiple ethnic groups 10 4.1
Black/African/Caribbean 5 2.0
Asian 3 1.2
Other 1 0.4
Marital status
Married (opposite or same-sex partner) 78 31.7
Single, never married 78 31.7
In a long-term relationship but unmarried 65 26.4
Divorced 9 3.7
Civil partnership 4 1.6
Separated 4 1.6
Other 4 1.6
Highest educational achievement
Degree (or degree equivalent) and above 180 73.2
A-levels (or equivalent) 28 11.4
Other Higher Education below degree level 27 11.0
GCSEs (or equivalent) 6 2.4
Trade apprenticeship (or equivalent) 1 0.4
Other 2 0.8
Employment status
Full-time employee 139 56.5
Part-time employee 74 30.1
Full-time self-employed 20 8.1
Part-time self-employed 13 5.3

Recruitment. Participants were recruited online through a number of channels.

Advertisements were placed via the researcher’s social media accounts (see Appendix A)

and the study was further advertised via the British Psychological Society’s press office,

who shared it with their Twitter (@bpsofficial) and Facebook followers. Steps were taken

to increase each post’s reach by adding images and appropriate hashtags, as these have

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been shown to increase the frequency with which a post is shared on Twitter by 35%

and 16% respectively (Rogers, 2014). Posts were also made at times which have been

found to be optimal for ‘click-throughs’ – people who actually click on the link attached

(Cook, 2013). Whilst specific accounts were directly contacted to request that they

share the research if they felt that it was appropriate to their follower-base, care was

taken not to contravene policies regarding ‘spamming’ (e.g. Twitter, 2015) and the

number of users that were directly contacted was kept to a minimum. Although there is

limited research examining the efficacy of social media for research purposes, O’Connor,

Jackson, Goldsmith and Skirton (2014) have demonstrated that Twitter is an effective

vehicle for recruitment to online research, enabling engagement with difficult-to-reach

populations.

Participants were also recruited via direct communication with a number of

musical organisations, who circulated the study via e-mail and social media. These

included the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Birmingham Gay Symphony

Orchestra, the Birmingham Conservatoire and the Enderby Wind Band, and were

facilitated by the researcher’s connections with musicians from each of these

organisations through their own membership of the Birmingham Gay Symphony

Orchestra. The study was also advertised via the University of Northampton’s

Psychology Research Panel.

Materials

Data were collected via a series of online questionnaires, which have been found

to decrease the social desirability of participant responses (Joinson, 1999), likely through

increased perceived anonymity, and to provide access to unique populations (Wright,

2005). In addition, online survey-based studies enable researchers to reach a large

number of potential participants in a short amount of time and are cost-effective

(Wright, 2005). Furthermore, they negate the need for manual data entry by

automatically compiling a spreadsheet of participants’ responses (Lefever, Dal, &

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Matthíasdóttir, 2007) which can then be imported into statistical analysis programs such

as SPSS, thus making data entry errors exceptionally unlikely. Whilst concerns are

sometimes raised about the conscientiousness that participants show when completing

questionnaires off-site, recent studies have demonstrated that participant accuracy

actually does not significantly differ between on-site and off-site participants (Ramsey,

Thompson, McKenzie, & Rosenbaum, 2016).

Demographic information. Participants were asked to provide their age,

gender identity, ethnic group, marital status, highest educational qualification and

employment status (see Appendix B). Office for National Statistics guidance (2015a;

2015b) was used to formulate ethnic group and educational attainment categories, and

gender identity categories were obtained from the Human Rights Campaign’s (2008)

guidance on collecting transgender-inclusive data.

Musical category. Participants were asked to select which Musical category

they best fitted into, based on a series of definitions (see Appendix C). Professional

musician was defined as “Anyone for whom music is their main source of paid

employment”; Amateur musician as “Anyone who does music in their spare time,

whether paid or unpaid”; and Non-musician as “Anyone who does not play music,

compose, teach or conduct, either as their main source of paid employment or in their

spare time”. Examples were provided for each category. Participants were advised that

if they were somebody who used to play, compose, teach or conduct, but had not done

so for several years, it was up to them to choose the category that best described how

they self-identified.

Perfectionism. Perfectionistic strivings and Perfectionistic concerns are broad,

higher-order dimensions which cannot be fully captured with single indicators or proxies

(Stoeber & Madigan, 2016). Consequently, perfectionism was measured using a

combination of factors from several scales to create a 79-item measure (see Appendix

D), as recommended by Joachim Stoeber and colleagues (Stoeber & Madigan, 2016;

Page 15 of 62
Stoeber & Otto, 2006) – see Table 2 for factors utilised. The items were presented as a

series of statements and participants were asked to rate on a 5-point Likert scale how

strongly they agreed or disagreed with each statement, with higher scores indicating

higher levels of perfectionism. Of the 79 items, 9 were reverse scored, and the lowest

and highest scores possible across the combined measure (assuming no items were

omitted) were 79 and 395 respectively. The PS scale included statements such as “I

have extremely high goals” whilst the PC scale included statements such as “To me, a

mistake equals failure”.

Table 2
Scales capturing Perfectionistic strivings and Perfectionistic concerns
Subscales recommended as indicators of…
Measures Reference Perfectionistic strivings Perfectionistic concerns
FMPSa Frost et al. (1990) Personal standards Concern over mistakes
HF-MPSb Hewitt & Flett (1991; 2004) Self-oriented Socially prescribed
perfectionism perfectionism
APS-Rc Slaney et al. (2001) High standards Discrepancy
PId R. W. Hill et al. (2004) Striving for excellence Concern over mistakes
Note. Table is a partial reproduction of that found in Stoeber and Madigan (2016), p.33.
a Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale
b Hewitt-Flett Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale
c Revised Almost Perfect Scale
d Perfectionism Inventory

The factors report a high level of reliability and validity across a large number of

studies (Stoeber & Madigan, 2016), with the original authors reporting a Cronbach’s α of

between .80 and .91 for all factors (Frost et al., 1990; Hewitt & Flett, 1991; Hewitt &

Flett, 2004; R. W. Hill et al., 2004; Slaney et al., 2001). In the current study, the

combined scale was found to be highly reliable, with Cronbach’s alphas of .95 for PS and

.97 for PC.

Burnout. The scale of measurement with the strongest psychometric qualities

for measuring burnout is the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach, 2015). It is

considered reliable, valid and easy to administer, demonstrates discriminant validity

between its factors and is not subject to distortion by social desirability bias (Maslach &

Jackson, 1981). Consequently, the study utilised the Maslach Burnout Inventory General

Page 16 of 62
Survey (MBI-GS), which is a workplace-generic, 16-item scale (Schaufeli et al., 1996 -

see Appendix E). Items were presented as a series of statements and participants were

asked to rate on a 7-point Likert scale (from ‘Never’ to ‘Daily’) how often each statement

reflected how they felt about their work, with higher scores indicating higher levels of

burnout. Of the 16 items, 6 were reverse scored, and the lowest and highest scores

possible (assuming no items were omitted) were 16 and 112 respectively. The

Exhaustion factor included statements such as “I feel worn out by the end of each work

day”, whilst the Cynicism factor contained statements such as “I’m becoming less

enthusiastic about my work” and the Reduced efficacy factor statements such as “In my

opinion, I’m good at what I do”.

The MBI-GS has historically demonstrated satisfactory reliability (Bakker,

Demerouti, & Schaufeli, 2002), with the original authors reporting a Cronbach’s α of

between .84 and .90 for Exhaustion, between .74 and .84 for Cynicism, and between .70

and .78 for Reduced efficacy (Leiter & Schaufeli, 1996). In the current study, the scale

showed good reliability, with Cronbach’s alphas of .88 for Overall burnout, .81 for

Exhaustion, .89 for Cynicism and .86 for Reduced efficacy.

Procedure

The research in its entirety was hosted online by Google Forms. Participants

were first presented with an information sheet screen (see Appendix F) and the consent

form (see Appendix G). They were then presented with 2 pages of perfectionism

questionnaires, a 1-page burnout questionnaire and then a debrief screen (see Appendix

H) which gave them one more opportunity to withdraw their data before submission.

Once participants had clicked submit, they were taken to a page that confirmed their

data had been submitted (see Appendix I), which also gave them more detailed

information about the study which they could choose to print if they wished. This

information was not included on the pre-submission debrief screen, as it was felt that it

may make the debrief page too cluttered, running the risk of participants not reading to

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the end of the page and therefore not realising that they still needed to click ‘Submit’ in

order to submit their data. The questionnaires took approximately 15-20 minutes to

complete.

Ethical considerations

All research was carried out in accordance with the British Psychological Society’s

Code of Ethics and Conduct (2009) and received full ethical approval from the University

of Northampton’s Psychology Ethics Committee (see Appendix J).

Consent. Participants were fully briefed in the information sheet as to the nature,

purpose, and anticipated consequences of their participation and were advised that

individual results of questionnaires would not be provided. Participants were asked to

indicate their consent by ticking boxes to confirm that they a) were aged 18+ and either

self-employed or in paid employment; b) understood their right to withdraw as detailed

below; c) understood the anonymity and confidentiality of their data; d) understood that

they did not have to answer any questions they didn’t want to and e) understood the

nature of the study and agreed to participate. Participants were only able to proceed to

the online questionnaire if they had ticked all of these boxes.

Withdrawal. Participation was completely voluntary, and participants were free

to withdraw at any point before they submitted their data by closing their internet

browser. However, data could not be withdrawn once they had been submitted as they

were no longer identifiable as belonging to any specific participant. Before final

submission, participants were advised that this was the final point at which they would

be able to withdraw their data. A unique identifier to enable participants to withdraw

data after submission was not utilised as it was felt that this would afford participants

less anonymity and that such measures were not warranted due to the low-risk nature of

the study.

Confidentiality and anonymity. No information was collected during the

course of the study that could be used to identify participants, and information provided

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was treated in the strictest confidence and stored on a password-protected computer.

Participants were advised that, whilst information provided may, in some form, be

included in journal papers or conference presentations, it would be done in a way that

ensured that they could not be identified.

Protection. Participants could choose not to answer any of the questionnaire

items if they did not wish to. They were also informed of the contact details of The

Samaritans at both the information and debrief stages of the questionnaire, should they

become concerned or distressed by anything that they encountered during the course of

the research. However, the nature of the study was such that the risk of physical and/or

mental harm was not considered to be elevated. The study did not involve any

deception.

Debriefing. As outlined above, participants were presented with a debrief screen

following the questionnaires which gave them a brief reiteration of the purpose of the

study and the contact details of the researcher and their supervisor. If the participants

chose to submit their data, they were then taken to a confirmation page which discussed

the study in more detail.

Results

As can be seen from Tables 3 and 4, initial descriptive statistics indicated that

Perfectionistic strivings (PS) and Perfectionistic concerns (PC) scores were normally

distributed. However, Table 3 also shows that, for the non-musician and amateur

musician groups, Overall burnout, Reduced efficacy and Cynicism scores were

significantly positively skewed (at p < .01), with z-scores greater than 2.58 (Field,

2012). Consequently, a log transformation (Field, 2013) was performed for these

variables across all groups (see Table 5 for log transformed scores), resulting in a

normal distribution of all scores which thus permitted parametric inferential testing.

Page 19 of 62
Table 3
Skew statistics for perfectionism and burnout scores, by musical category
Non-musicians Amateur musicians Professional musicians
Statistic SE z Statistic SE z Statistic SE z
Perfectionistic
0.13 0.24 0.54 -0.27 0.23 -1.17 -0.72 0.44 -1.64
strivings
Perfectionistic
0.22 0.24 0.93 0.14 0.23 0.59 0.08 0.44 0.19
concerns
Overall burnout 0.53 0.24 2.25 0.62 0.23 2.70* 0.01 0.44 0.01
Reduced
0.63 0.23 2.75* 0.55 0.23 2.42 0.53 0.44 1.20
efficacy
Exhaustion -0.22 0.24 -0.94 0.02 0.23 0.08 -0.83 0.44 -1.89
Cynicism 0.74 0.24 3.14* 0.64 0.23 2.80* 0.31 0.44 0.71
* Significantly skewed at p < .01

Table 4
Kurtosis statistics for perfectionism and burnout scores, by musical category
Non-musicians Amateur musicians Professional musicians
Statistic SE z Statistic SE z Statistic SE z
Perfectionistic
-0.46 0.47 -0.98 -0.10 0.45 -0.21 -0.06 0.86 -0.07
strivings
Perfectionistic
-0.80 0.47 -1.72 -0.80 0.45 -1.76 -0.89 0.86 -1.04
concerns
Overall burnout -0.15 0.47 -0.31 -0.39 0.45 -0.87 0.22 0.86 0.26
Reduced
-0.56 0.47 -1.20 -0.50 0.45 -1.09 -1.01 0.86 -1.18
efficacy
Exhaustion -1.16 0.47 -2.49 -0.57 0.45 -1.26 0.45 0.86 0.53
Cynicism -0.32 0.47 -0.68 -0.90 0.45 -1.98 -1.32 0.86 -1.53
* Significantly kurtotic at p < .01

Table 5
Skew statistics for log transformed burnout scores, by musical category
Non-musicians Amateur musicians Professional musicians
Statistic SE z Statistic SE z Statistic SE z
Overall burnout -0.18 0.24 -0.75 -0.06 0.23 -0.28 -1.04 0.44 -2.37
Reduced
0.01 0.24 0.04 -0.18 0.23 -0.79 -0.04 0.44 -0.09
efficacy
Cynicism -0.13 0.24 -0.54 0.01 0.23 0.02 -0.24 0.44 -0.55
* Significantly skewed at p < .01

Research has shown that the dimensions of PS and PC are usually very highly

correlated (Stoeber & Otto, 2006; A. P. Hill & Curran, 2015), with the extent of the

adaptive effects of PS only becoming apparent when the negative effects of PC have

been controlled for (Stoeber & Otto, 2006; Gotwals et al., 2012; Smith, Saklofske, Yan,

& Sherry, 2015). It has also been noted by A. P. Hill and Curran (2015) that the

relationship between the two dimensions appears to be influential in terms of the effects

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of PS but not the reverse; that is, PC appears to affect the outcomes of PS but not vice

versa. In this respect, PC is said to act as a ‘suppressor variable’ (R. W. Hill, Huelsman,

& Araujo, 2010; Gotwals et al., 2012), suppressing correlations between PS and adaptive

characteristics and inflating correlations between PS and maladaptive characteristics.

Consequently, as detailed below, steps were taken to control for the correlation between

the two dimensions in order to provide a clear picture of their respective effects (Gotwals

et al., 2012; A. P. Hill & Curran, 2015; Stoeber & Otto, 2006), as PS and PC were,

unsurprisingly, highly correlated within this sample also (r = .57, p < .001).

Comparing amateur musicians with amateur sportspeople

The first hypothesis was that the strength of the perfectionism-burnout

relationship in amateur musicians in this sample would be similar to that reported by A.

P. Hill and Curran (2015) in the domain of sports. A series of Pearson correlations were

performed to test this hypothesis; partial correlations were performed between PS and

the dimensions of burnout in order to control for the effects of PC.

As can be seen in Table 6, in amateur musicians, PS showed a significant, small-

to-medium, negative correlation with Overall burnout and Reduced efficacy, which was

also the case for sportspeople. However, it showed no significant correlation with either

Exhaustion or Cynicism in amateur musicians, whereas it did in sportspeople. PC

showed a significant, medium, positive correlation with Overall burnout in both amateur

musicians and sportspeople. It also showed a significant, small-to-medium, positive

correlation with Reduced efficacy in both amateur musicians and sportspeople.

However, in amateur musicians, PC showed a larger positive correlation with Exhaustion

and Cynicism than it did in sportspeople.

The correlations were then transformed into z-scores using Fisher’s r-to-z

transformations. Z-scores based on the difference between the scores were calculated,

along with p-values to denote the statistical significance of the difference. As can be

seen from Table 7, the correlations between multidimensional perfectionism and burnout

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were not significantly different in amateur musicians as compared to sportspeople, other

than the correlation between PC and Exhaustion (z = 2.51, p = .01), where PC

contributed significantly more to Exhaustion in amateur musicians than it did in

sportspeople.

Consequently, the first hypothesis is mainly supported; the strength of the

perfectionism-burnout relationship is indeed similar in both of these groups.

Table 6
Correlations between perfectionism and burnout dimensions in amateur musicians and sportspeople
a
Amateur musicians Sportspeople
Overall Reduced Overall Reduced
Exhaust. Cynicism Exhaust. Cynicism
burnout efficacy burnout efficacy
Perfectionistic
-.24* .01 -.19 -.32** -.31* -.12* -.30* -.25*
strivings b
Perfectionistic
.52** .47** .37** .35** .40* .26* .27* .28*
concerns
* Significant at p < .05 a Data from A. P. Hill and Curran (2015)
** Significant at p < .01 b
Controlling for correlation with Perfectionistic concerns

Table 7
z-scores for the differences between correlations of multidimensional perfectionism and burnout in
amateur musicians and sportspeople a
Overall burnout Exhaustion Cynicism Reduced efficacy
Perfectionistic
0.78 1.34 1.20 -0.78
strivings b
Perfectionistic
1.57 2.51* 1.15 0.8
concerns
a Data from A. P. Hill and Curran (2015)
* Significant at p < .05 b Controlling for correlation with Perfectionistic concerns

Comparing amateur musicians with professional musicians

The second hypothesis was that, in comparison to amateur musicians,

professional musicians would show smaller negative correlations between PS and

burnout and larger positive correlations between PC and burnout; partial correlations

were again performed between PS and the dimensions of burnout in order to control for

the effects of PC.

Page 22 of 62
 As can be seen in Table 8, PS was significantly negatively correlated with Overall

burnout and Reduced efficacy in amateur musicians but was not significantly correlated

with Exhaustion or Cynicism. PS was not significantly correlated with any of the

dimensions of burnout in professional musicians. In amateur musicians, PC was

significantly positively correlated with Overall burnout, Exhaustion, Cynicism and

Reduced efficacy. In professional musicians, PC was significantly positively correlated

with Overall burnout, Exhaustion and Reduced efficacy but was not significantly

correlated with Cynicism.

The correlations were again transformed into z-scores using Fisher’s r-to-z

transformations. Z-scores based on the difference between the scores were calculated,

along with p-values to denote the statistical significance of the difference. As can be

seen from Table 9, the correlations between multidimensional perfectionism and burnout

were not significantly different in amateur musicians as compared to professional

musicians, with the exception of the correlation between PC and Reduced efficacy

(z = -2.18, p = .01), where PC contributed significantly more to Reduced efficacy in

professional musicians than it did in amateur musicians.

Consequently, the second hypothesis is mostly unsupported; there were almost

no significant differences in the perfectionism-burnout relationship between amateur and

professional musicians.

Table 8
Correlations between perfectionism and burnout dimensions in amateur and professional musicians
Amateur musicians Professional musicians
Overall Reduced Overall Reduced
Exhaust. Cynicism Exhaust. Cynicism
burnout efficacy burnout efficacy
Perfectionistic
-.24* .01 -.19 -.32** -.29 -.06 -.17 -.34
strivings a
Perfectionistic
.52** .47** .37** .35** .61** .42* .26 .69**
concerns
* Significant at p < .05 a Controlling for correlation with Perfectionistic concerns
** Significant at p < .01

Page 23 of 62
Table 9
z-scores for the differences between correlations of multidimensional perfectionism and burnout in
amateur and professional musicians
Overall burnout Exhaustion Cynicism Reduced efficacy
Perfectionistic
0.24 0.32 -0.09 0.10
strivings a
Perfectionistic
-0.60 0.28 0.55 -2.18*
concerns
* Significant at p < .05 a Controlling for correlation with Perfectionistic concerns

Comparing professional musicians with non-musicians

The final hypothesis was that, in comparison to workers in general (the non-

musician group), professional musicians would show smaller negative correlations

between PS and burnout and larger positive correlations between PC and burnout. A

series of Pearson correlations were performed to test this hypothesis; partial correlations

were again performed between PS and the dimensions of burnout in order to control for

the effects of PC.

As can be seen in Table 10, there were no significant correlations between PS and

any of the dimensions of burnout within the professional musician group. However, PS

was significantly negatively correlated with Reduced efficacy in non-musicians, but was

not significantly correlated with any other dimensions of burnout within this group. In

professional musicians, PC showed larger positive correlations with Overall burnout and

Reduced efficacy than in amateur musicians, but smaller positive correlations with

Exhaustion in professional musicians and no significant correlations with Cynicism in

either group.

The correlations were again transformed into z-scores using Fisher’s r-to-z

transformations. Z-scores based on the difference between the scores were calculated,

along with p-values to denote the statistical significance of the difference. As can be

seen from Table 11, the correlations between multidimensional perfectionism and

burnout were not significantly different in professional musicians as compared to workers

in general (non-musicians), other than the correlation between PC and Reduced efficacy

Page 24 of 62
(z = 2.22, p = .01), where PC contributed significantly more to Reduced efficacy in

professional musicians than it did in workers in general (non-musicians).

Table 10
Correlations between perfectionism and burnout dimensions in professional musicians and workers
in general (non-musicians)
Professional musicians Workers in general a

Overall Reduced Overall Reduced

Exhaust. Cynicism Exhaust. Cynicism
burnout efficacy burnout efficacy
Perfectionistic
-.29 -.06 -.17 -.34 -.18 -.07 -.02 -.27**
strivings b
Perfectionistic
.61** .42* .26 .69** .49** .52** .19 .34**
concerns
* Significant at p < .05 a i.e. the non-musician group
** Significant at p < .01 b Controlling for correlation with Perfectionistic concerns

Table 11
z-scores for the differences between correlations of multidimensional perfectionism and burnout in
professional musicians and workers in general (non-musicians)
Overall burnout Exhaustion Cynicism Reduced efficacy
Perfectionistic
-0.52 0.05 -0.68 -0.35
strivings a
Perfectionistic
0.78 -0.58 0.33 2.22*
concerns
* Significant at p < .05 a Controlling for correlation with Perfectionistic concerns

Consequently, the final hypothesis is mostly unsupported; there were almost no

significant differences in the perfectionism-burnout relationship between professional

musicians and workers in general (non-musicians).

Discussion

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between

multidimensional perfectionism and burnout in amateur and professional musicians, and

to examine whether these groups displayed any similarities with amateurs and

professionals in other domains in order to ascertain whether there are any aspects of the

perfectionism-burnout relationship that are unique to musicians. The findings of this

Page 25 of 62
study indicate that, generally, all the groups – that is, A. P. Hill and Curran’s (2015)

sportspeople, and this study’s non-musicians, amateur musicians and professional

musicians – have a similar perfectionism-burnout relationship, in that Perfectionistic

strivings (PS) protects against (or at least does not contribute to) burnout to a similar

degree across all of these groups. In addition, Perfectionistic concerns (PC) contributes

to Overall burnout and the Cynicism dimension of burnout to a similar degree across all

groups. However, the findings also indicate that there are some key differences;

Perfectionistic concerns (PC) contributes significantly more to the Exhaustion component

of burnout in amateur musicians in comparison to sportspeople, and PC also contributes

significantly more to the Reduced efficacy component of burnout in professional

musicians in comparison to both amateur musicians and workers in general (non-

musicians).

Comparing amateur musicians with amateur sportspeople

In keeping with the study’s first hypothesis, amateur musicians and amateur

sportspeople (A. P. Hill & Curran, 2015) showed similarities in how perfectionism

contributed to Overall burnout, Reduced efficacy and Cynicism, with PS and PC uniquely

contributing to these dimensions to a similar degree in both groups. This is consistent

with existing literature, which suggests that PC, amongst amateur sportspeople, is a risk

factor for burnout and maladaptive outcomes, and that PS is a protective factor (Gotwals

et al., 2012; Madigan, Stoeber, & Passfield, 2015; Stoeber & Becker, 2008; Stoeber,

2011). Similar patterns are found amongst amateur musicians (Stoeber & Eismann,

2007), in whom ‘striving for perfectionism’ (i.e. PS) was found to be associated with

higher effort and higher achievement and ‘Negative reactions to imperfection’ (i.e. PC)

with performance anxiety, emotional fatigue and somatic symptoms (Stoeber &

Eismann, 2007). Other studies, outside the realm of perfectionism research, have also

demonstrated similarities between sportspeople and musicians; for instance,

Macnamara, Hambrick and Oswald (2014) found that ‘deliberate practice’ – that is,

“engagement in structured activities created specifically to improve performance in a

Page 26 of 62
domain” (Macnamara et al., 2014, p.1608) – has a strong effect within the domains of

music and sports, explaining a similar amount of variance in performance in musicians

(21%) and sportspeople (18%) in comparison to domains such as education (4%). As

has been already noted, these similarities were expected, given that music and sports

both demand a high level of perfectionism by encouraging participants to strive for

flawless performance (Dews & Williams, 1989), with both activities drawing a fine line

between facilitating and debilitating levels of stress (Mor et al., 1995). This may go

some way towards explaining why the present study found the perfectionism-burnout

relationship to be similar across these two groups.

However, whilst there are many similarities between amateur musicians and

amateur sportspeople, there are also key differences between these groups in terms of

how they experience the Exhaustion dimension of burnout, as PC was significantly more

problematic in amateur musicians than in sportspeople with regards to Exhaustion.

What this means is that the types and levels of perfectionism experienced by musicians

lead to significantly greater levels of emotional Exhaustion than the type and levels of

perfectionism experienced by sportspeople. The reasons for this remain unclear; whilst

numerous studies discuss the stressors that musicians experience – such as performance

anxiety (Cooper & Wills, 1989; Dews & Williams, 1989; Stoeber & Eismann, 2007), the

constant pressure of music lessons, practices and performances (Stoeber & Eismann,

2007) and impatience with progress (Dews & Williams, 1989), similar concerns are also

shared by sportspeople (e.g. Gotwals et al., 2012; Raedeke, 1997; Raedeke & Smith,

2001; Stoeber & Madigan, 2016; Stoeber, 2011). It may be that these differences are a

result of variance within one or more underlying personality constructs; for instance,

Alarcon, Eschleman and Bowling’s (2009) meta-analysis found that Exhaustion was

negatively correlated with a large number of personality traits, including extraversion,

conscientiousness and agreeableness, whilst Langelaan, Bakker, van Doornen and

Schaufeli (2006) also found Exhaustion to be strongly positively correlated with

neuroticism. These findings may partially explain why the results of the current study

Page 27 of 62
indicated that there are significant differences in Exhaustion levels between amateur

musicians and amateur sportspeople.

One factor which may account for the differences in the Exhaustion dimension of

burnout is that sportspeople are naturally very physically active; whilst the amateur

musicians in this sample may also take part in physical activity, it is likely that they are

not physically active to the extent that A. P. Hill & Curran’s (2015) sportspeople are and

this may lead to differences in how the groups respond to those work stressors which

have the potential to lead to burnout. For example, Toker and Biron (2012) found that

physical activity protected against job burnout, hypothesising that it may provide a

distraction and respite from work, enhance feelings of self-efficacy and reduce

cardiovascular reactivity to stress. Similarly, Hansen, Blangsted, Hansen, Søgaard and

Sjøgaard (2010) found that white-collar employees that were physically active during

their leisure time generally perceived themselves as having less stress and more energy,

with more vigorous levels of physical activity exerting the most influence. The intensity

of physical activity has also been found to make a difference to neurophysiological

responses to psychosocial stress, with both amateur and professional sportspeople

showing significantly lower heart rate and state anxiety responses to stressors in

comparison to physically inactive participants, demonstrating a dissociation between

sympathetic and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal responsiveness to stress (Rimmele et

al., 2009). Furthermore, a meta-analysis by Forcier et al. (2006) also found that

physically fit individuals showed significantly attenuated heart rate and systolic blood

pressure reactivity in response to stress, and faster heart rate recovery. Consequently,

whilst levels of physical activity may not account for all of the differences between these

two groups in terms of Exhaustion, it is likely that at least some of the variance can be

explained by differing levels of physical activity; that is, amateur musicians perhaps do

not benefit to the same degree as sportspeople from the stress resilience that comes as

a result of regular physical activity.

Page 28 of 62
Comparing professional musicians with amateur and non-musicians.

Contrary to the study’s second and third hypotheses, the perfectionism-burnout

relationship did not differ significantly in terms of Overall burnout, Exhaustion and

Cynicism between professional musicians and both amateur and non-musicians. It is

surprising that there are no significant differences between the professional and non-

musician groups for these dimensions, as it was expected that perfectionism would

contribute far more to all dimensions of burnout in professional musicians than it would

in non-musicians. However, PC was found to contribute to the Reduced efficacy

component of burnout significantly more in professional musicians than it did in either

amateur or non-musicians. This means that the types and levels of perfectionism

experienced by professional musicians contribute more to the development of burnout

than do the types and levels of perfectionism experienced by amateur musicians or

workers in general (non-musicians).

To explore why perfectionism may be more problematic for professional

musicians as compared to other groups, it is useful to take into account the work of

Maslach and colleagues, who contend that there are six dimensions within the workplace

that are key in terms of their effect on employee burnout levels, arguing that the degree

of match or mismatch between the person and each of the dimensions are what make a

person more or less susceptible to burnout (Maslach & Leiter, 1997; Maslach et al.,

2001; Maslach, 2015). Whilst musicians within this sample will naturally be varied in

discipline (jazz, classical, etc.), Cooper and Wills’ (1989) qualitative analysis of 70

musicians working within the field of popular music sheds a great deal of light onto the

stressors experienced by professional musicians, many of which are likely to be

applicable to professional musicians of any discipline. As outlined below, their findings

show that there is a degree of mismatch for each of the dimensions referenced in

Maslach and Leiter’s (1997) model, which may increase the likelihood that perfectionism

will negatively contribute to the development of burnout within professional musicians

and thus go some way towards explaining this study’s findings.

Page 29 of 62
 The first dimension in Maslach and Leiter’s (1997) model is ‘work overload’, which

is concerned with the degree to which the demands of the job exceed human limits.

Accordingly, Cooper and Wills’ (1989) participants spoke of the impossibly high

standards imposed on them by the music industry, who expected them to be able to

deliver perfection, and their knowledge that any delays or mistakes whilst recording

were costing the studio money. The second dimension is ‘control’, which is concerned

with employees’ perceived capacity to influence decisions that affect their work. Again, a

mismatch is demonstrated amongst Cooper and Wills’ (1989) professional musicians,

who said that they had little control over when they worked, and that when work was

offered, it was often very intensive, with long working hours meaning they got very little

sleep. As one participant noted, “You have to decide whether to turn gigs down to get a

rest. You’re worried that if you do turn gigs down, people won’t ring again” (Cooper &

Wills, 1989, p.28). Another area in which there is significant mismatch is that of

‘reward’, which is concerned with financial remuneration and recognition. Cooper and

Wills’ (1989) participants all said that financial insecurity is commonplace as a

professional musician, with freelance work lacking the relative safety of being part of a

large organisation (such as the BBC orchestra). As one participant observed, “There’s no

correlation between money and effort at the end of the day” (Cooper & Wills, 1989,

p.32). In addition, skill isn’t necessarily rewarded by better work opportunities either;

one participant argued that, “in any other profession, it’s a fair bet that as you become

more skilful, you move up, and do better quality work. Not so for the musician” (Cooper

& Wills, 1989, p.27). The mismatch between person and occupation across these

dimensions may provide at least some degree of explanation for why the present study

found the Reduced efficacy component of burnout to be significantly more problematic

for professional musicians than for amateur or non-musicians.

Another area where there is significant mismatch is that of ‘community’, which is

the overall quality of social interaction at work (Maslach & Leiter, 1997). One participant

found that, despite the shared struggles, fellow musicians were “neither interested, nor

Page 30 of 62
understanding” (Cooper & Wills, 1989, p.24), and that promoters had “no interest in

musicians as people, [only] their image of what a musician is supposed to be like”

(Cooper & Wills, 1989, p.24). Consequently, there is a large degree of social isolation

for professional musicians, who are unable to gain support from their peers. Maslach

and Leiter’s (1997) fifth dimension, ‘fairness’, again shows a large degree of mismatch,

with Cooper and Wills’ (1989) participants noting that musicians get no sick pay, are

unable to claim social security benefits when out of work, have no pension at the end of

their working life and have no rights to go to a tribunal if they get fired. Furthermore,

many said that musicians often get cheated by those who hire or manage them, with

one participant stating that “all but a tiny percentage of agents and managers are either

hopeless, bent or both” (Cooper & Wills, 1989, p.31). Finally, in terms of the ‘values’

dimension of Maslach and Leiter’s (1997) model, highly talented and creative musicians

are often required to do “bread and butter gigs” just to make ends meet, which can be

unstimulating, boring and far beneath their capabilities (Cooper & Wills, 1989). This

sentiment was also echoed by one of the current study’s participants, a professional

musician currently employed by a major musical in London’s West End, who contacted

the researcher by e-mail after he had taken part in the study and stated that musicians

such as himself are hired as a result of being highly skilled and creative but are then

required to bury that creativity in order to ‘robotically’ repeat the same score for 8 shows

a week. Consequently, it can be seen from Cooper and Wills’ (1989) findings that there

is a great deal of mismatch between professional musicians and their work across all six

dimensions, which may provide some explanation as to why perfectionism was

significantly more problematic for professional musicians in the current study.

Maslach and colleagues contend that mismatches between a person and any of

these dimensions can lead to burnout, which in turn leads to negative outcomes such as

lack of commitment, reduced satisfaction and decreased performance (Maslach & Leiter,

1997; Maslach et al., 2001; Maslach, 2015). Furthermore, different people will attribute

greater levels of importance to some domains than others, and there are individual

Page 31 of 62
differences with regards to how much mismatch a person is willing to tolerate before it

contributes to job burnout. This emphasizes the importance of looking at the factors

that contribute to burnout in the context of the degree to which a person’s job and

workplace are matched or mismatched with the domains that are of greatest importance

to that person (Maslach et al., 2001). However, with regards to this study’s finding that

PC contributes more to the Reduced efficacy component of burnout in professional

musicians, there are several of the ‘mismatches’ detailed above that are particularly

pertinent. Maslach and Leiter (1997) contend that insufficient reward and lack of

recognition make people more vulnerable to burnout by devaluing their work and

increasing their feelings of inefficacy. For professional musicians, it seems likely that the

unpredictable nature of getting work and receiving remuneration leads to a perception of

reduced personal accomplishment; as one of Cooper and Wills’ (1989) participants

noted, “When people don’t ring you, you think: is it because there’s no work, or is it

because I’m not good enough?” (p.29).

In addition, whilst perfectionism is encouraged within the music industry, it is

very infrequently reached; “any musician will tell you that playing is 95 percent a pain in

the arse, a frustration, and 5 per cent you feel okay about” (Cooper & Wills, 1989, p.26).

This feeling is likely to be compounded by the nebulous nature of what ‘perfection’ within

music actually means; for instance, it isn’t enough for a player to merely be technically

accurate if they do not also engage the audience and convey the feeling behind the piece

that they are playing. It is probable that this lack of a definite end-point, of what can be

considered ‘perfect’ (or even ‘good enough’), gives professional musicians a sense of

reduced efficacy. Even if this is not objectively accurate, it is nevertheless a feature of

burnout, as the dimension is concerned with feelings of incompetence and an actual or

perceived reduction in personal efficacy or accomplishment (Maslach & Jackson, 1981;

Maslach, 2015). This therefore goes some way towards explaining this study’s findings,

which suggest that the maladaptive aspects of perfectionism contribute to the Reduced

Page 32 of 62
efficacy component burnout to a greater degree within professional musicians than they

do within amateur or non-musicians.

It is important to note that Maslach et al. (2001) strongly contend that burnout is

less about individual stress responses and more about organisational and situational

factors, with the significance of the work environment often greatly underestimated

(Maslach, 2015). Consequently, most burnout interventions focus on changing or

treating the individual rather than dealing with situational factors. Accordingly, it is

important that the findings of this study, whilst focused on individual differences in trait

perfectionism, are understood in context. While it is difficult to comment on the varied

occupational environments of the amateur and non-musicians, it has been demonstrated

within this study that dispositional perfectionism within professional musicians is far

more likely to result in burnout, likely due, at least in part, to the working conditions set

forth by Cooper and Wills (1989).

Future research directions

The current study is notable in that it is one of the first to examine burnout in

musicians. It is also one of relatively few studies that examine perfectionism in

musicians in a way which examines the unique effects of the PC and PS dimensions of

the construct, rather than considering perfectionism to be unidimensional. It would

therefore be beneficial for future research to build on this study’s findings and further

explore the effects of PC and PS in musicians, including how this population experiences

burnout.

In addition, the symptoms of burnout in sport have been found to be similar to

those found in other areas, but they have also been demonstrated to have unique

characteristics (Raedeke, 1997; Raedeke & Smith, 2001). For example, the Exhaustion

component has an additional physical element, and Cynicism is redefined as a loss of

interest or value in participation. Future research would be beneficial to ascertain

whether there are any unique characteristics of burnout within the arts in comparison to

Page 33 of 62
both the general population and also the unique characteristics of burnout in sports.

Raedeke and Smith’s (2001) Athlete Burnout Measure, which psychometrically assesses

the unique characteristics of burnout in sport, could be a good starting point for such

work.

Limitations

The study had two main limitations. Firstly, the small number of participants in

the professional musician group meant that the power of the analyses was affected. A

post-hoc power analysis using G*Power software (Faul, Erdfelder, Buchner, & Lang,

2009) indicated that, in comparison to analyses which used the amateur and non-

musician groups, achieved statistical power fell dramatically for analyses involving the

professional musician group, yielding figures that were consistently well below the

desired power of .8 (Field, 2013) for all but the largest of effect sizes.

Secondly, it should be noted that the combined perfectionism measure (as

recommended by Stoeber & Madigan, 2016) is designed to capture ‘dispositional

perfectionism’, which is perfectionism as a relatively stable personality characteristic.

However, there are other aspects of perfectionism; ‘perfectionism cognitions’, which are

focused on individual differences in the frequency of cognitions about the attainment of

ideal standards (Flett, Hewitt, Blankstein, & Gray, 1998), and ‘perfectionistic self-

presentation’, which is focused on individual differences in the need to appear perfect to

other people and to not disclose or display imperfections to others (Hewitt et al., 2003).

While there are some individual items in the scales used for this study that address

perfectionism cognitions and perfectionistic self-presentation, the scale as a whole was

not specifically designed to measure these aspects of perfectionism and therefore this

study could not adequately address them.

Conclusion

Despite these limitations, the findings of the present study make an important

contribution to the literature on perfectionism and burnout, strongly suggesting that

Page 34 of 62
amateur musicians who are higher in Perfectionistic concerns are more vulnerable to the

Exhaustion component of burnout than amateur sportspeople and that professional

musicians who are higher in Perfectionistic concerns are, as a group, significantly more

vulnerable to the Reduced efficacy dimension of burnout than either amateur musicians

or professionals in other fields. This study is one of the first to examine burnout and

multidimensional perfectionism within musicians, and, as such, has provided new and

valuable insights into how these constructs relate within a unique population.

Page 35 of 62
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 Appendix A: Social media advertisements

Twitter

Pls share (survey): #Perfectionism & #burnout in musicians. Can you take part?

http://bit.ly/1ndQppq

Facebook

Hello all, I am currently doing some research into the relationship between perfectionism

and burnout in professional musicians, amateur musicians, and non-musicians.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a musician or not; if you are aged over 18 and are

self-employed or in full- or part-time paid employment, I would really appreciate your

participation. Clicking on the link below will take you to a set of online questionnaires

that should take no longer than 15-20 minutes to complete.

If you would also be willing to share this post to your friends list, its privacy settings are

set to Public so that you can do this. Thank you! http://bit.ly/1ndQppq

Attached image

Figure 1. Image attached to social media advertisements to increase post engagement.

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 Appendix B: Demographic questionnaire

1. What is your age?

Please enter in whole numbers:

2. What is your gender identity?

Please choose one option that best describes your gender identity:

 Female
 Female to male transgender
 Male
 Male to female transgender
 Not sure
 Other

3. What is your ethnic group?

Please choose one option that best describes your ethnic group or background:

 White
 Mixed/multiple ethnic groups
 Asian
 Black/African/Caribbean
 Other

4. What is your marital status?

Please choose one option that best describes your marital status:

 Single, never married

 Married (opposite or same-sex partner)
 Civil partnership
 In a long-term relationship but unmarried
 Divorced
 Widowed
 Separated
 Other

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 Appendix B (continued)

5. What is the highest educational qualification you have achieved?

Please choose one option that best describes the highest educational qualification
that you have achieved:

 Degree (or degree equivalent) and above

 Other Higher Education below degree level
 A-levels (or equivalent)
 Trade apprenticeship (or equivalent)
 GCSEs (or equivalent)
 No qualifications
 Other

6. What is your employment status?

Please choose one option that best describes your main employment. (Please
remember that you need to be in full- or part-time work to take part in this
research):

 Full-time employee
 Part-time employee
 Full-time self-employed
 Part-time self-employed
 Unemployed
 Retired

Page 50 of 62
 Appendix C: Musical category questionnaire

Which of the following categories do you feel best describes you?

 Professional musician: Anyone for whom music is their main source of paid

employment. This category includes (but is not limited to) professions such as

orchestral or band performance, solo performance, conducting, composition, and

music teaching.

 Amateur musician: Anyone who participates in music or musical activities in

their spare time, whether paid or unpaid. This category includes (but is not

limited to) people who, in their spare time, play with a band or orchestra,

perform solo, provide music lessons, or just play for their own enjoyment.

 Non-musician: Anyone who does not play music, compose, teach or conduct,

either as their main source of paid employment or in their spare time.

If you are somebody who used to play, compose, teach, or conduct, and have not done

so for several years, choose the category that best describes how you self-identify.

For example, you may have been a professional composer but are now retired; if you

still self-identify as a professional musician then this is the category you should choose.

Alternatively, you may have studied music to a high standard growing up but have not

played since you left school; if you no longer consider yourself a musician then you

should choose the ‘non-musician’ category.

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 Appendix D: Perfectionism questionnaire

Please rate how strongly you agree or disagree with each statement in relation to your

own thoughts, feelings and beliefs. There are no right or wrong answers and you should

try not to think too much about each answer; go with your first instinct.

Questions will be rated on a five-point Likert scale as follows:

Strongly Neither agree

Disagree Agree Strongly agree
disagree nor disagree

1. I often feel frustrated because I can’t meet my goals

2. Other people seem to accept lower standards from themselves than I do
3. I rarely live up to my high standards
4. If someone points out a mistake I’ve made, I feel like I’ve lost that person’s
respect in some way
5. I do not have very high goals for myself
6. Although they may not show it, other people get very upset with me when I slip
up
7. I set higher goals than most people
8. The fewer mistakes I make, the more people will like me
9. I drive myself rigorously to achieve high standards
10. I am seldom able to meet my own high standards for performance
11. One of my goals is to be perfect in everything I do
12. I have a strong need to strive for excellence
13. I can’t stand to do something halfway
14. If I make a serious mistake, I feel like I’m less of a person
15. My family expects me to be perfect
16. My performance rarely measures up to my standards
17. I set very high standards for myself
18. I find it difficult to meet others’ expectations of me
19. I am never satisfied with my accomplishments
20. I demand nothing less than perfection of myself
21. I am very good at focusing my efforts on attaining a goal
22. If I mess up on one thing, people might start questioning everything I do
23. I must achieve excellence in everything I do
24. I strive to be as perfect as I can be
25. Doing my best never seems to be enough

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 Appendix D (continued)

26. I often worry about not measuring up to my own expectations

27. It is important to me that I be thoroughly competent in everything I do
28. If someone does a task at work better than I, then I feel like I failed the whole
task
29. My parents rarely expected me to excel in all aspects of my life
30. If I do not do as well as other people, it means I am an inferior human being
31. I should be upset if I make a mistake
32. It is very important that I am perfect in everything I attempt
33. People around me think I am still competent even if I make a mistake
34. I am perfectionistic in setting my goals
35. I do not have to be the best at whatever I am doing
36. I try to do my best at everything I do
37. I set very high standards for myself
38. The better I do, the better I am expected to do
39. People will probably think less of me if I make a mistake
40. I am hardly ever satisfied with my performance
41. I must always be successful at work
42. I strive to be the best at everything I do
43. If I fail at work, I am a failure as a person
44. If you don’t expect much out of yourself you will never succeed
45. The people around me expect me to succeed at everything I do
46. My best just never seems to be good enough for me
47. I hardly ever feel that what I’ve done is good enough
48. If I do not do well all the time, people will not respect me
49. I am not satisfied even when I know I have done my best
50. I hate being less than the best at things
51. To me, a mistake equals failure
52. People expect nothing less than perfection from me
53. I over-react to making mistakes
54. I must work to my full potential at all times
55. When I am working on something, I cannot relax until it is perfect
56. I have to be the best in every task I do
57. It makes me uneasy to see an error in my work
58. Others think I am okay, even when I do not succeed
59. Others will like me even if I don’t excel at everything
60. If I fail partly, it is as bad as being a complete failure
61. I have high expectations for myself

Page 53 of 62
 Appendix D (continued)

62. I often feel disappointment after completing a task because I know I could have
done better
63. Those around me readily accept that I can make mistakes too
64. If I do not set the highest standards for myself, I am likely to end up a second-
rate person
65. I expect higher performance in my daily tasks than most people
66. My work needs to be perfect in order for me to be satisfied
67. All my energy is put into achieving a flawless result
68. People expect more from me than I am capable of giving
69. I am particularly embarrassed by failure
70. I have high standards for my performance at work
71. I have extremely high goals
72. Success means that I must work even harder to please others
73. If I make mistakes, people might think less of me
74. Making mistakes is a sign of stupidity
75. I never aim for perfection in my work
76. I feel that people are too demanding of me
77. Anything I do that is less than excellent will be seen as poor work by those
around me
78. I expect the best from myself
79. I seldom feel the need to be perfect

Page 54 of 62
 Appendix E: Burnout questionnaire

On this page there are statements about feelings related to work. Read each statement

carefully and decide how often that statement reflects how you feel about your work.

Questions will be rated on a seven-point Likert scale as follows:

Several Several Several

Once a Once a
Never times a times a times a Daily
month week
year month week

1. I feel emotionally exhausted in my job

2. I feel worn out by the end of each work day

3. I feel tired when I get up in the morning and have to go to work

4. Working with people every day causes me stress

5. My work consumes me

6. I can effectively solve all problems that arise in my job

7. I feel that I am contributing effectively to my organization’s objectives

8. I’m starting to become less interested in my job than I was when I first started

working there

9. I’m becoming less enthusiastic about my work

10. In my opinion, I’m good at what I do

11. I feel happy when I achieve something at work

12. In my job I have achieved many things that are worthwhile

13. I just want to do my work without being disturbed

14. I’m starting to doubt whether my work is actually contributing to anything

15. I doubt the significance of my job

16. I feel confident that I am effective in the things that I do at work

Page 55 of 62
 Appendix F: Participant Information Sheet

Researcher: Rebecca Linnett - rebecca.linnett12@my.northampton.ac.uk

Supervisor: Helen Clegg – helen.clegg@northampton.ac.uk

Thank you for showing an interest in participating in this study. I am a third year
undergraduate at the University of Northampton and as part of my dissertation research
I am seeking to investigate the relationship between perfectionism and burnout in
professional musicians, amateur musicians and non-musicians, and whether levels of
creativity change this relationship in any way.

Am I eligible to participate?
You can participate in this research whether you are a musician or not, but it is a
requirement of this study that you are aged 18 or over and that you are either self-
employed or in part-time or full-time paid employment. There are also people in some
professions (i.e. dancers and choreographers) where a person may have a close
relationship with music but not consider themselves a musician. If this is the case for
you, it will unfortunately not be possible for you to take part in this study.

What is perfectionism?
Perfectionism is a personality trait that is characterised by high personal standards, a
high level of self-critical evaluation and concern over mistakes. There are both positive
and negative aspects to perfectionism and a person can score highly in some of its
dimensions and lower in others – everybody is different and there is no ‘right’ way to be.

What is burnout?
“Burnout” is a psychological syndrome that is thought to develop as a result of long-term
workplace stress and an imbalance between what is expected of you and the resources
you have to meet those expectations. It consists of three dimensions: A feeling of
overwhelming exhaustion; the development of a cynical or detached attitude towards
your work; and an actual or perceived reduction in how well you are performing at work.

What will be expected of me if I choose to take part?

If you choose to participate in this study, you will first be asked to provide demographic
information and to decide which category you best fit into – professional musician,
amateur musician or non-musician. There will be descriptions of each category provided
to help you decide. If you have selected the ‘professional’ or ‘amateur’ musician
category, you will also be asked to complete some questions relating to music and its
influence in your life.

Page 56 of 62
 Appendix F (continued)

You will then be asked to complete three questionnaires which will assess your levels of
perfectionism, burnout and a personality trait that is closely related to creativity. The
questions will be in the form of statements and you will be asked to rate how strongly
you agree or disagree with the statement in relation to your own thoughts, feelings and
beliefs. There are no right or wrong answers and you should try not to think too much
about each answer; go with your first instinct.

I anticipate that the questionnaires should take no longer than 15-20 minutes to
complete, but don’t worry if it doesn’t take you that long or takes you longer – everyone
works at a slightly different pace.

Do I have to take part?

Participation in this study is completely voluntary, and you are free to withdraw at any
point before you submit this form. If you wish to withdraw, just click the X in the top-
right-hand corner of the screen. However, once your answers have been submitted, it
will not be possible to withdraw your data as it will not be identifiable as yours due to the
anonymous nature of the study. You do not have to answer any questions that you do
not want to.

Will my information be kept confidential?

Any information you provide will be entirely anonymous and confidential. No information
will be collected in this questionnaire that could be used to identify you and information
you provide will be treated in the strictest confidence and stored on a password
protected computer. Whilst information you provide may, in some form, be included in
journal papers or conference presentations, it will be done in way that ensures you
cannot be identified.

Further information
This research complies with the Data Protection Act (1998) and the Freedom of
Information Act (2000). It has received ethical approval from the University of
Northampton and will be conducted in accordance with the British Psychological Society's
Code of Ethics and Conduct (2009). If you have any questions or comments, or would
like to be informed of the general outcomes of this study, please feel free to contact me
or my supervisor on the contact details provided at the top of this page. If you have any
concerns or are distressed about any of the topics covered in this research, you may

Page 57 of 62
 Appendix F (continued)

wish to contact the Samaritans for support or advice on 08457 90 90 90 or

jo@samaritans.org

If you would like to participate in this study, please complete the consent process
below and click 'Submit' to be taken to the questionnaires. Please note that individual
results will not be provided.

Page 58 of 62
 Appendix G: Consent Form

Participants were only able to proceed to the questionnaires if they had ticked all the
boxes next to the following statements on the online form:

1. I confirm that I am over 18 years of age and that I am either self-employed or in

part-time or full-time paid employment.

2. I understand that I have the right to withdraw from this study at any point up
until I have submitted my answers, and that it will not be possible to withdraw
my data after it has been submitted.

3. I understand that all information I provide will be entirely anonymous and

confidential.

4. I understand that I do not have to answer any questions that I do not want to
answer.

5. I confirm that I understand the nature of this study and that I agree to
participate.

Page 59 of 62
 Appendix H: Participant Debrief Sheet

Researcher: Rebecca Linnett - rebecca.linnett12@my.northampton.ac.uk

Supervisor: Helen Clegg – helen.clegg@northampton.ac.uk

Thank you for taking the time to participate in this research into the relationship
between perfectionism and burnout in professional musicians, amateur musicians and
non-musicians, and whether levels of creativity change this relationship in any way.

This is the final point at which you are able to withdraw your data. If you wish to do this,
please click the X in the top-right-hand corner of this screen. Once you have clicked
'Submit', it will not be possible to withdraw your data as it will not be identifiable as
yours due to the anonymous nature of the study.

If you have any questions or comments, or would like to be informed of the general
outcomes of this study, please feel free to contact me or my supervisor on the contact
details provided at the top of this page.

If you have any concerns or are distressed about any of the topics covered in this
research, you may wish to contact the Samaritans for support or advice on 08457 90 90
90 or jo@samaritans.org

If you are happy to continue, please tick the box and then click 'Submit'.

Page 60 of 62
 Appendix I: Confirmation Page

Researcher: Rebecca Linnett - rebecca.linnett12@my.northampton.ac.uk

Supervisor: Helen Clegg – helen.clegg@northampton.ac.uk

Your answers have been submitted – thank you for participating! Below are some more
details about the study as well as a reiteration of some of the details you were given
before you decided to take part – this is so you can print this page for your information if
you want to.

What is perfectionism?
Perfectionism is a personality trait that is characterised by high personal standards, a
high level of self-critical evaluation and concern over mistakes. There are both positive
and negative aspects to perfectionism and a person can score highly in some of its
dimensions and lower in others – everybody is different and there is no ‘right’ way to be.

What is burnout?
“Burnout” is a psychological syndrome that is thought to develop as a result of long-term
workplace stress and an imbalance between what is expected of you and the resources
you have to meet those expectations. It consists of three dimensions: A feeling of
overwhelming exhaustion; the development of a cynical or detached attitude towards
your work; and an actual or perceived reduction in how well you are performing at work.

What is the purpose of this study?

There is evidence to suggest that people who score highly in some dimensions of
perfectionism are more likely to experience job burnout. This study is building on the
work of Hill and Curran (2015) who reviewed a large number of studies on the
relationship between multidimensional perfectionism and burnout and found that burnout
existed in a range of domains (such as work, sport and education) and that there were
differences in the relationship between perfectionism and burnout depending on which
domain was being examined. This study is aiming to introduce a fourth domain, the
arts, and to examine whether there are differences in the relationship between
perfectionism and burnout in professional, amateur and non-musicians.

If you have any questions or comments, or would like to be informed of the general
outcomes of this study, please feel free to contact me or my supervisor on the contact
details provided at the top of this page. If you have any concerns or are distressed
about any of the topics covered in this research, you may wish to contact the Samaritans
for support or advice on 08457 90 90 90 or jo@samaritans.org

Page 61 of 62
 Appendix J: Confirmation of ethical approval

Division of Psychology

Dr Roz Collings
Chair of Psychology Ethics Committee
University of Northampton
Boughton Green Road
Northampton
NN2 7AL

23rd December 2015

cc: Helen Clegg
REF: Rebecca Linnett

Dear Colleagues
The relationship between multidimensional perfectionism and burnout in
professional, amateur, and non-musicians: Is creativity a protective factor?

Your research proposal has been considered by the Division of Psychology

Ethics Review Committee and they are satisfied that the research proposal accord with
the relevant ethical guidelines.

You have received full approval for your ethics application and can start
research immediately.

If you wish to make any additional modifications to the research project, you
must speak to your supervisor about it. If your supervisor thinks that the modifications
are at all important you must inform the committee in writing before proceeding. Please
also inform the committee as soon as possible if participants experience any
unanticipated harm as a result of taking part in your research.

Good luck with your research.

Chair Psychology Ethics Committee.

Page 62 of 62