The Problems of Unattainable Perfection in Academics
As back-to-school season rolls around, students get the constant “ice breaker” question, “What’s your worst trait?” I, being the crazy self-motivated student that I am, always answer with, “I am a perfectionist.” But the true difficulty behind that question is the follow-up: “Why?” I’m left to sit here and wonder, Why is my perfectionism a bad trait? That sends my perfectionist self into a spiral until I am left with only one question, What even is perfectionism?
This is one debate that not even the psychologists themselves can answer. Don E. Hamachek, a psychological researcher and author, defines perfectionism through two different categories: “normal,” meaning those that create realistic expectations, and “neurotic,” meaning those that create unattainable goals. On the other hand, Thomas Curran, an assistant professor in the Department for Health at the University of Bath, and Andrew P. Hill, a professor of sport and exercise psychology at York St. John University, define perfectionism under three separate topics due to their causes: self oriented, socially prescribed, and other-oriented perfectionism.
The fact that the term is unable to be defined by the people most knowledgeable about the topic serves as proof that striving for perfection is working towards something that is plainly not real. Therefore, perfectionism is a method of describing tendencies people have when attempting to achieve extreme and unattainable objectives. Hamacheck’s idea of “normal” perfectionism is simply goal setting, while true perfectionism is a more of an umbrella term that encompasses a range of slightly neurotic tendencies in order to achieve the impossible.
My use of the word “neurotic” was no mistake. It has been proven that there is a clear connection between perfectionism and mental health issues, especially in those who deal with this pressure one hundred eighty days out of the year: students.
Looking particularly at students like myself, Curran and Hill published a study for the American Psychological Association, where they found that over twenty seven years (1989–2016) with a sample of over 41,000 students, perfectionism has greatly increased. For socially prescribed perfectionism specifically, there was a 32% increase in the scoring on a perfectionism scale (created by a survey given to these students over the course of the study). The two men made a connection between this increase and an augmentation in psychological distress.
They cite Limburg K. Watson, who created a meta-analysis of two hundred eighty four relevant studies of students by using subscales of two common measures of perfectionism in order to make a connection between psychopathology (specifically depression, anxiety, OCD, eating disorders, self-harm, general discontent, and more) and perfectionism.
Watson was not the only one to make this connection. A study published in the National Library of Medicine looked into ninety eight college students in 2019, and this questionnaire found that higher levels of perfectionism correlated with higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress.
It is not just these sort of “invisible” issues arising due to a need for perfection; there is tangible evidence of distress in the rates of suicide among the younger generation. A study done by psychologist Annelie Werbart Törnblom with thirty three cases of suicide among students has proven that around 70% of these suicide victims had a tendency to form high expectations of themselves.
Now that there is a clear connection between the creation of unattainable goals and mental health issues among students, it is important to note that perfectionism only relates to an increased motivation, but not necessarily an improved academic performance, as explained by professors Joachim Stoeber and Anna Rambow. Because perfectionism leads to such a negative reaction to imperfection and because of a range of intelligence among students, there can be no direct correlation between perfectionism and school achievements. The only concrete connection that can be drawn between perfectionism and academics is an instillation of fear and other depressive symptoms when the expected excellence is not achieved.
The fact that children in today’s society are pushing themselves in their education to the point of mental illness is the sad reality of our world and the toxic environment we have created. Sarah J. Egan, a professor at the Curtin University School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, put it best when she claimed, “Evidence has been reviewed for the argument that perfectionism contributes to the aetiology and maintenance of multiple psychiatric disorders and it can therefore be considered as a transdiagnostic process.”
Egan claims that “perfectionism” has become a term that encapsulates numerous other topics, which, in this case of students, are mental illnesses ranging in severity from simple discontent to suicide. The school work and learning itself is entirely losing its value simply because the students are focusing on performing without mistakes.
This extreme form of motivation constantly impacts the mental health of students to the point where it is crippling and debilitating, contrary to the facade of attainability of a “perfect” academic life.
