Why Trying to be Perfect is Bad for You
Perfectionism is increasing among young people, yet It’s not just hard to be perfect, it’s actually impossible.
It’s not just hard to be perfect, it’s actually impossible. Despite this, there has been a push for people to be better whether it’s through airing out personal, professional, or systemic skeletons, but this constant standoff between making mistakes and being perfect is starting to be quantifiable and researchers are on the case.
A 2016 meta-analysis looked at 27 years of data collected on American, Canadian, and British college students and found linear increases in three categories: self-oriented, other-oriented, and/or socially prescribed perfectionism. Coauthor of the study, Thomas Curran, explained that “young people are competing with each other in order to meet societal pressures to succeed and they feel that perfectionism is necessary in order to feel safe, socially connected and of worth.” Meanwhile, research is reporting that mental health takes a hit because of these academic, professional, and financial pressures as well as pressure to look a certain way.
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