This article presents a review of recent studies about perfectionism in sport, its function and its positive and negative aspects. Perfectionism is a multidimensional characteristic of personality. Some studies suggests that perfectionism has two main dimensions- perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns (Stoeber, 2011) or positive and negative perfectionism (Luszczynska, 2012). Perfectionistic strivings correlate positively with approach goal orientations, self-confidence, hope of success and performance in training and competitions, where perfectionistic concerns show positive connections with avoidance goal orientation, fear of failure or competitive anxiety (Stoeber, 2011). Positive perfectionism may be associated with better performance in sport, refering to high personal standards and the pursuit of excellence. Negative perfectionism relates to concerns about your own performance, focusing on the mistakes, evaluation and implementation of a discrepancy between expectations and negative reactions for ones own mistakes (Luszczynska, 2012). Assuming that perfectionism is a part of personality which can change during the lifespan and is a multidimensional characteristic, we should ask the question whether in a given player the dimensions of perfectionism may change depending on the conditions in which he/she is located and his/her personal experience?
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