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To err is (perfectly) human: behavioural and neural correlates of error processing and perfectionism.

To err is (perfectly) human: behavioural and neural correlates of error processing and perfectionism.

Authors :
Barke A
Bode S
Dechent P
Schmidt-Samoa C
Van Heer C
Stahl J
Source :
Social cognitive and affective neuroscience [Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci] 2017 Oct 01; Vol. 12 (10), pp. 1647-1657.
Publication Year :
2017

Abstract

The attitude towards one's own imperfection strongly varies between individuals. Here, we investigated variations in error-related activity depending on two sub-traits of perfectionism, Personal Standard Perfectionism (PSP) and Evaluative Concern Perfectionism (ECP) in a large scale functional magnetic resonance imaging study (Nā€‰=ā€‰75) using a digit-flanker task. Participants with higher PSP scores showed both more post-error slowing and more neural activity in the medial-frontal gyrus including anterior cingulate cortex after errors. Interestingly, high-EC perfectionists with low PSP showed no post-error slowing and the highest activity in the middle frontal gyrus, whereas high-EC perfectionists with high PSP showed the lowest activity in this brain area and more post-error slowing. Our findings are in line with the hypothesis that perfectionists with high concerns but low standards avoid performance monitoring to avoid the worry-inducing nature of detecting personal failure and the anticipation of poor evaluation by others. However, the stronger goal-oriented performance motivation of perfectionists with high concerns and high standards may have led to less avoidance of error processing and a more intense involvement with the imperfect behaviour, which is essential for improving future performance.<br /> (© The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press.)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1749-5024
Volume :
12
Issue :
10
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Social cognitive and affective neuroscience
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
28655179
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsx082