Perfectionism and Excellencism in Parents of Teenagers in Organized Sports: The Place of the Child in the Parent’s Self-Concept

Parents of children in organized sports have become increasingly involved in their children’s sport journeys and there are growing concerns about their behaviors when attending their children’s competitions. One potential driver of these negative behaviors is the inclusion of the child in the parent’s self-concept. In this study, based on the Model of Excellencism and Perfectionism (MEP), we examined if levels of excellencism and perfectionism in sports parents were associated with different indices of parental investment in a child’s sport, including the inclusion of the child and their child’s sport in the self-concept, child-invested contingent self-esteem, self-based pride, and social comparison-based pride. We recruited 330 parents with a teenager participating in organized sports (Mparents = 43.28 years old; SDparents = 6.48 years). Results of a confirmatory factor analysis supported the two-factor structure of the Scale of Perfectionism and Excellencism (SCOPE) with parents. Results of multiple regression showed that excellencism positively predicted identification with the child, child-invested contingent self-esteem, self-based pride, and social comparison-based pride. In contrast, perfectionistic standards were positively associated with inclusion of the child in the self-concept, inclusion of the sport of the child, and child-invested contingent self-esteem, while negatively predicting self-based pride. In all, perfection strivers are more identity invested in their child’s sport journey compared to excellence strivers. Overall, the results of the study supported our hypothesis that perfection strivers are at a higher risk of overidentifying with their children who compete in youth sports.