“I need to be perfect or else the world’s gonna end”: A qualitative analysis of adolescent perfectionists’ expression and understanding of their perfectionism.

Abstract

Converging evidence indicates that the high prevalence of perfectionism and associated pressures to be perfect among adolescents constitute a growing societal problem, especially given concerns about the mental health of young people. This qualitative study sought to understand how adolescent perfectionists recruited from the community define and think about perfectionism. Semistructured interviews were completed with 46 self-identified adolescent perfectionists (Mage = 16.33 years, SD = 1.93; 44 females, 2 males). Analyses yielded new key insights about how adolescent perfectionists define and think about perfectionism. Themes that emerged confirmed the multidimensionality of perfectionism and associated self-evaluative, self-presentational, and cognitive tendencies. Unique themes included the role of social comparison and the commitment to perfectionism despite recognizing the costs. The picture that emerged from this work is that perfectionism is exceptionally complex at the construct level and has elements that account for the heterogeneity that exists among adolescents who all share the self-identified label of being “a perfectionist.” Most notably, this work highlights the importance of understanding the need to be perfect and how perfectionism goes well beyond striving for excellence. The implications of this work are considered in terms of assessment, prevention, and practice.

You just want a break from the hatred of failure: The lived experience of being a student physiotherapist perfectionist and considerations for educators

“…Whilst it is important that students are assessed in scenarios that simulate real practice, reducing the potential for socially driven perfectionistic concerns might be fruitful through, for example, minimising the presence of others and recruiting simulation models unknown to those being assessed. Given the perfectionist's need for control (Molnar et al, 2023), learning environments that threaten a sense of control are also likely to be problematic. Physiotherapy practice, like many other health professions, is, by its very nature, unpredictable, and places students in scenarios which con ict with perfectionistic needs for certainty.…”

“…Firstly, ndings are inconsistent relating to the magnitude and direction of associations identi ed (Burcas & Cretu, 2020) and the crosssectional designs prevent cause and effect from being drawn. Secondly, the reductive approach may provide an incomplete or xed understanding (Farmer et al, 2017;Molnar et al, 2023), sacri cing understanding of the construct at the expense of understanding the people who live with it (Hewitt, 2020). As such, correlational studies cannot provide a holistic portrayal of the multiple ways in which perfectionism might shape the student learning experience, nor can it expose underlying mechanisms that explain relationships between perfectionism and academic outcomes (Vanstone & Hicks, 2019).…”

“…As such, correlational studies cannot provide a holistic portrayal of the multiple ways in which perfectionism might shape the student learning experience, nor can it expose underlying mechanisms that explain relationships between perfectionism and academic outcomes (Vanstone & Hicks, 2019). Consequently, there have been calls for more qualitative research (Egan et al, 2013;Farmer et al, 2017;Molnar et al, 2023).…”

“…Whilst this research provides important knowledge of the correlates of perfectionism in academic settings, few studies have considered how perfectionism shapes the experience of learning as a university student (Dickensen & Dickensen, 2015). Consequently, more qualitative work is needed to augment current understandings and unearth the deeper processes of the perfectionist lived experience (Farmer et al, 2017;Molnar et al, 2023). This study aims to address this gap with a phenomenological approach which seeks to understand the experience of being a student perfectionist, within the context of physiotherapy education.…”

“…Our ndings suggest that competition among students contributes to the development of perfectionistic learning environments, which may re ect shared trait competitiveness within student cohorts. Although competitiveness and perfectionism are conceptually distinct(Klein et al, 2020), high levels of perfectionism have been linked to hyper-competitiveness(Garanian et al, 2018;Molnar et al, 2023). If these traits are common among students within particular professions, they may work together to intensify perfectionistic environments.…”