A Perfect Takedown

Perfectionism Is Increasing Over Time: A Meta-Analysis of Birth Cohort Differences From 1989 to 2016 by Thomas Curran and Andrew P. Hill
Psychological Bulletin, American Psychological Association, December 28, 2017

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Studies of perfectionism usually seek to inform educators of the impacts, good and bad, of students’ drive for the perfect. But this study is the first to look at trends over time, seeking to shed light on what is causing the rise in perfectionism, and what that increase means for our students. The results of this analysis of college students in Canada, Britain, and the U.S. show that young people, who as a cohort are already facing tougher social and economic conditions than their parents, are shouldering a burden of competitiveness brought on under the auspices of meritocracy, but also by the watchful eye of increasingly demanding parents. For any educator familiar with demanding parents in the school family population, this is an interesting piece of research. The authors posit that "increasing perfectionism may be because, generally, American, Canadian, and British cultures have become more individualistic, materialistic, and socially antagonistic over this period, with young people now facing more competitive environments, more unrealistic expectations, and more anxious and controlling parents than generations before." Socially-prescribed perfectionism had the highest rate of increase over time, and it has acute relevance to psychopathology, including anxiety. This study offers clear data on a source of parental and societal student pressures that leaves school leaders and well-meaning parents to face an old question in new, honest, and urgent ways:  Is the perfect the enemy of the good?