Pai tū, pai hinga: Perfectionism, Non-Suicidal Self-Injury and Identity Amonga Rangatahi - Exploring understandings and experiences of Māuiui Kōtihitihi (Perfectionism)

Mental wellbeing statistics indicate Māori are more likely to report symptoms of depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders, attempt suicide, and die by suicide than non-Māori. However, these disorders have been researched using Western definitions and approaches, suggesting definitions, research, and treatment of these disorders may not be culturally relevant for Māori. This thesis explores how rangatahi understand and experience perfectionism, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and their identity as Māori to explore how NSSI, perfectionism, and identity are related, and to determine how rangatahi may perceive and experience perfectionism. A mixed methods approach was used to explore the research aim. Quantitative aspects utilised a pre-existing high school participant group (N = 1654) of both Māori and non-Māori to examine how perfectionism, NSSI, and ethnic identity were related. Additionally, a first year Psychology student sample (N = 289) of both Māori and non-Māori from Te Herenga Waka, was used to further examine this relationship using an updated sample, various perfectionism measures, and more encompassing measures of Māori cultural embeddedness rather than just Māori identity. The two qualitative components utilised only Māori participants. The first explored how perfectionism, or related concepts in te ao Māori, may have been relevant traditionally and currently for Māori through interviewing four Māori from diverse cultural backgrounds. The second explored how rangatahi understand and experience perfectionism through semi-structured interviews with 10 rangatahi (aged 17-24) also from diverse cultural backgrounds. Quantitative findings indicated that perfectionism and identity are relevant and important psychological constructs to consider for rangatahi who self-injure. However, the way identity is measured is important: ethnic identity and Māori identity do not appear to fully capture the essence of what it is to be Māori, while measures of cultural embeddedness provide a better understanding of how one feels about their identity as Māori. Additionally, for rangatahi, the current measures of perfectionism do not seem to interact with NSSI and identity in the way current research has found. These findings suggest perfectionism may be experienced differently for rangatahi, such that perfectionism may manifest differently and/or develop through different mechanisms. Qualitative findings highlighted participants felt contextualising their experiences within broader experiences of the colonisation was important for understanding why they had the experiences they did. For example, understanding the current ‘ideal’ (whether it be in terms of your body, academic achievement, or economic success) was imposed by Western standards which do not necessarily align with Māori standards of success. While there were some similarities between participants experiences and understandings of perfectionism with the Western-developed definitions of perfectionism, there were underlying factors which differed, such as concern over mistakes being motivated by concern for how Māori are perceived by Pākehā and worry about how your mistakes may be generalised to all Māori or further negative stereotypes.

This thesis is the first scholarship to explore how perfectionism is understood and experienced by rangatahi. Based on the above findings, the continued use of the current definition and measures of perfectionism to understand rangatahi experiences will not provide culturally relevant or responsive research and clinical practice. The purpose of this thesis is to lay the foundations for future research to build upon, to challenge the blind use of Western-developed measures, definitions, and interventions with Māori and other indigenous groups, and to begin the development of a culturally relevant definition of perfectionism for rangatahi.