Introduction. The relevance of the subject is primarily due to the high frequency of anxiety disorders in the population. According to various schools of psychology and psychotherapy, the motivation of the patient, their deep-seated attitudes and values ​​play a significant role in the emergence and development of anxiety disorders. But nowadays there is a lack of empirical studies that consider achievement motivation and perfectionism in connection with anxiety disorders.

Objective. On the one hand, the study is focused on the relationship between the direction and the achievement motivation in motivational conflicts, and on the other hand, the authors illicit the general level and structural characteristics of perfectionism in people with anxiety disorders.

Procedure. The study involved 21 patients with anxiety disorders undergoing inpatient treatment at the Moscow Research Institute of Psychiatry, Moscow, Russia, and 20 healthy subjects. In order to measure achievement motivation, the authors used TAT (Thematic Apperception Test) modified by H. Heckhausen (Heckhausen, 1963, 1967; Magomed-Eminov, 1987). In order to identify the degree of manifestation and features of the structure of perfectionism, the Kholmogorova-Garanyan perfectionism questionnaire (Garanyan, Yudeeva, 2008, 2009) and the Hewitt and Flett Multidimensional scale of perfectionism were used (Hewitt, Flett, 1998; Gracheva, 2006). An intergroup comparison was performed in terms of the severity of the characteristics assessed, and also a correlation study of the perfectionism and motivation indicators was conducted in each group.

Results. Compared to healthy individuals, patients with anxiety disorders show a higher level of general perfectionism and socially prescribed perfectionism, as well as reduced achievement motivation. They revealed a greater discrepancy between the motives for achieving success and avoiding failure, which suggests that their activity is directed to the motive of avoidance than to the motive of achievement. The overall level of perfectionism in both groups negatively correlates with the severity of the achievement motive, however, in healthy people, perfectionism is associated with the hope of success, and in patients with anxiety disorders it is associated with the fear of failure.

Conclusion. The results can be used in psychotherapeutic practice treating patients with anxiety disorders. The study gives way for further research on patients with anxiety disorders, depressed patients, etc.