Abstract

The paper strives to analyze philosophical and psychological aspects of perfectionism in elite Sport. The method of metaanalysis of scientific works has been chosen. Metaanalysis of research carried out over the past two decades on perfectionism in Sport and published in scientific journals shows an increasing interest of scientists and practitioners in the phenomenon of perfectionism in elite Sport. A survey and analysis of results enables a better understanding of philosophical and psychological aspects of perfectionism which is a “strive for perfection” and personal ethical principles that rate high search for the ideal character and behaviour. Phenomenon of perfectionism is characteristic not only to Sports activity, as a result the conceptualisation of the phenomenon is related to a specific social context and presented as multidimensional (Frost, Marten, Lahart & Rosenblate, 1990; Hewitt & Flett, 1991; Johnson & Slaney, 1996; Slaney, Rice, Mobley, Trippi & Ashby, 2001). The authors listed suggest a three-dimensional construct of perfectionism: self-oriented perfectionism (SOP), outwardly oriented perfectionism (OOP) and socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP). Special methodologies have been created to research the phenomenon of perfectionism in elite sport (Anshel & Mansouri, 2003; Stöber et al., 2004). They disclose the psychological effect on the athlete created by the athlete’s personal standards set during training and competitions, negative reactions with regard to failure to achieve certain results during training and competitions, pressure from the coach, the team and parents (or people who are dose to the athlete), and the requirements of the team during training and competitions. It could be said that perfectionist thinking (philosophy of perfection) in elite Sport is known to contradict general morale and call for special morale in sport, whereas the main psychological problems related to perfectionism in elite sport are as follows: influence to the athlete’s motivation and results, eating disorders, decreasing self-esteem, disorders of social behaviour, anxiety and decreasing self-confidence. Verf.-Referat