When someone says the word “perfectionist,” it calls to mind certain associations. Typically, we think of neatness, organization, and associate perfectionism with attention to detail and academic success. However, there is more to perfectionism for those who experience it than many people recognize. For one thing, it does not have a singular meaning or refer to a stable set of traits or behaviours, and it’s not always a positive thing for the individual.
A 1978 theory of perfectionism distinguished between two types: normal and neurotic. Normal perfectionists set high standards for their performance and get pleasure from their efforts, but are also able to adjust these standards to situational demands. This is true for many Type-A personalities and is more in line with the general impression of perfectionism that exists.
Neurotic perfectionists, on the other hand, set high standards but are unable to adjust them based on situational demands and also do not experience satisfaction upon completion because they are critical about perceived mistakes in their performance. This is more likely to cause anxiety and stress in an individual as they do not experience the rewarding feelings of success and gratification from reaching their high standards; instead, their standards are either set at an unrealistic level or the individual is so critical of their work that they perceive themselves to never live up to these self-imposed standards.
This theory concluded that high standards themselves aren’t problematic, but the concern over mistakes and critical evaluation of performance. Part of the academic experience is not only critically evaluating your own work, but also having someone else, whether it’s another student, a professor, or a TA, do the same. For someone who experiences neurotic perfectionism, this evaluation and the necessary constructive feedback can feel like a failure or that they haven’t lived up to their standards.
More recent research takes into account parental expectations and doubts about actions as contributing factors to perfectionism, exploring the relationship between self-directed and other-directed thoughts and behaviours.
Although many of us live away from home and our parents for at least some of our time at university, the preceding 18 years of our lives were shaped by what our parents expected of us. When we go home at Thanksgiving, or Christmas, or whenever, most of our parents ask, “How’s school?” Many of us dread (or completely avoid) telling our parents about any academic shortcomings; our understanding of parental expectations motivates this avoidance. It’s easy to draw the connection between this feeling of wanting to live up to our parents’ unspoken expectations of us, and to see how this can lead to feelings of self-doubt if we perceive that we are not meeting standards.
A 2012 study further refined this concept of perfectionism to discuss “conscientious perfectionism” versus “self-evaluative perfectionism.” Conscientious perfectionism is based on traits such as organization, striving for excellence, planfulness, and high standards for others. Self-evaluative perfectionism involves concern over mistakes, need for approval, rumination, and perceived parental pressure.
The differences in motivation for these two are clear; while one type is motivated by positive factors, the other stems from a fear of negative results.
Conscientious perfectionism, like normal perfectionism, is healthy and can lead to a high degree of efficiency and productivity when we can live up to our own standards. Because it is motivated from within and involves positive feedback from our feelings of gratification, it is a self-reinforcing tendency or habit that can really be an academic asset. Self-evaluative perfectionism, similar to neurotic perfectionism, is motivated by external factors and more importantly, by fear. This constant pressure that we put on ourselves will actually prevent us from enjoying the university experience.
This pressure can have huge impacts on our overall stress level and general mental health. If you experience these feelings of external pressure and negative self-evaluation of standards and performance associated with more harmful forms of perfectionism, it may be helpful to examine the outcomes of your work in relation to your anxiety levels. If necessary, Student Health Services can guide you to resources that may help you to regulate these tendencies in a way that will benefit your mental health.