Stoeber, J. (2018). The psychology of perfectionism: An introduction. In J. Stoeber (Ed.), The psychology of perfectionism: Theory, research, applications (pp. 3-16). London: Routledge. The Psychology of Perfectionism: An Introduction Joachim Stoeber Overview Perfectionism is a multidimensional personality disposition characterized by striving for flawlessness and setting exceedingly high standards of performance accompanied by overly critical evaluations of one’s behavior. Perfectionism is a complex characteristic. It comes in different forms and has various aspects. This chapter has a dual purpose: It aims to serve as an introduction to “The Psychology of Perfectionism” (the edited book you are holding in your hands) and an introduction to the psychology of perfectionism (what the book is about). To these aims, I first present a brief history of perfectionism theory and research. Then I introduce the two-factor theory of perfectionism—differentiating perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns—with the intention to provide readers with a conceptual framework that may serve as a “compass” guiding them through the different models and measures of perfectionism they will encounter in this book. Going beyond the two-factor model, I next introduce three aspects of perfectionism that are important for a comprehensive understanding of perfectionism: other- oriented perfectionism, perfectionistic self-presentation, and perfectionism cognitions. The chapter will conclude with a brief overview of the organization of the book and the contents of the individual chapters. A Caveat There is, however, a caveat. This introductory chapter is unlikely to present an unbiased account of perfectionism research. Perfectionism is a multifaceted personality characteristic, and—as the chapters of the book will demonstrate—different researchers have different views of perfectionism. Accordingly, the present chapter reflects the personal views I have acquired over the near 20 years since I took the first stab at perfectionism research (Stöber, 1998), and they are views that the authors of the other chapters may share, share in parts, or not share. However, readers should also be aware that, despite differences in the views of perfectionism, there is lots of common ground. I personally like to think that—if we as perfectionism researchers take everything that is published on perfectionism into account —95% of our views are in agreement. The problem is that we can passionately disagree about the remaining 5%, making the