Background and Objectives: The overarching objective of the present study is to investigate the impact of progressive perfectionism on self-efficacy and critical thinking among students of Islamic Azad University, Gorgan Branch.

Methodology: This research was an applied study in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of methodology.The statistical population consists of 12,790 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students of Islamic Azad University, Gorgan Branch. Based on the Krejcie and Morgan table (1970), a sample of 375 individuals was selected using stratified random sampling by gender. Data were collected using three questionnaires: the Progressive Perfectionism Questionnaire by Asadpour (2017) with 28 items, the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire by Sherer et al. (1982) with 17 items, and the Critical Thinking Questionnaire by Ricketts (2003) with 33 items. The face and content validity of the instruments were confirmed by experts, and their reliability was calculated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, yielding 0.89 for the progressive perfectionism questionnaire, 0.93 for the self-efficacy questionnaire, and 0.92 for the critical thinking questionnaire. Data analysis was conducted using structural equation modeling, univariate regression, and multivariate regression tests.

Findings:The results indicated that progressive perfectionism has a significant positive impact on the self-efficacy and critical thinking of students at Islamic Azad University, Gorgan Branch, and the proposed model demonstrates a good fit. Furthermore, among the dimensions of progressive perfectionism, goal-directedness and striving for excellence have a significant positive impact on students’ self-efficacy and critical thinking.

Conclusion: The findings of this applied survey-based study indicate that progressive perfectionism plays a significant positive role in enhancing the self-efficacy and strengthening the critical thinking of students at Islamic Azad University, Gorgan Branch. Among these, the components of goal-directedness and striving for excellence, as key dimensions of this type of perfectionism, contribute the most to explaining these effects. Therefore, fostering a constructive perfectionist attitude in educational settings can be regarded as an effective strategy for promoting students' cognitive abilities and positive beliefs.