Perfectionism: An academic view

Everyone knows intuitively what a “perfectionist” is - someone who sets exceptionally high (if not “perfect”) standards for themselves and will work very hard to achieve them. On face value then, perfectionism might not seem like a bad thing - striving for better and better is surely by definition beneficial, and indeed perfectionism may seem to facilitate progress. However, most people also know intuitively that this striving for the best can come with real pitfalls such as excess pressure and stress.

These everyday observations are mirrored in the psychology research literature - perfectionism isn’t a unidimensional construct. In other words, there are variations of it depending on the combination of features present in the individual, and it is these combinations and the relationship one takes to them that determines whether perfectionism serves as an ally or adversary in one’s journey.

In the present day many people are keen to inform their understanding of psychological patterns based on the existing body of psychological research, which can provide useful lenses and information about common human experiences. However, there are also limitations to relying purely on academic research to understand yourself and make psychological changes in the real world, so here I will articulate both the contributions and shortcomings of the prevailing academic frameworks, highlighting where they can be useful to you but why their limitations leave a need for a deeper approach.

What is perfectionism?

As is the case for many psychological constructs, there is no agreed-upon conceptualisation of perfectionism. However, there are 2 dimensions that have emerged in research literature that do tend to warrant more agreement: perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic (or evaluative) concerns.

Perfectionistic strivings is a term used to describe the more “positive” side of perfectionism, whereby someone has self-set, personally important goals that they seek to pursue to the best of their ability. Imagine a runner pursuing continual improvement of 10k times, achieved through regular track, road and strength training and carefully thought-out nutritional and lifestyle habits, fuelled by the satisfaction derived from improvement, enjoyment of the physical benefits and sense of personal meaning that comes from challenging themselves. Obstacles such as plateaus and injury might be met with frustration and rigorous problem-solving, but they are generally treated as learning experiences and worked around flexibly.

Perfectionistic concerns, on the other hand, describes the more “negative” side - frequent self-criticism, fear of and rumination over failure, conflation of self-worth with performance outcomes and intolerance of mistakes, often but not always accompanied by a felt need to please or impress others. Now imagine a runner who is so concerned about getting PBs and avoiding stagnation, not just in the future but now, that any sign that things aren't going their way is perceived as catastrophic, they can only focus on what they see as the negative aspects of their performances, and no success is ever valued for long. They take the same conscientious approach as someone more on the "strivings" side, but they will train through injury and overtrain through plateaus, risking further injury and burnout.

Statistically speaking, these 2 dimensions seem to exist independently of one another, meaning in theory you can have both, one without the other, or one going up or down whilst the other remains constant, etcetera. Mixed models of perfectionism account for this by delineating different categories of perfectionism based on those combinations, for instance “mixed perfectionists” (high in both strivings and concerns) versus “pure evaluative concerns perfectionists” (only the negative aspects).

However, the exact relationship between the 2 isn’t clear. Some researchers argue that perfectionistic strivings alone are just a reflection of striving behaviour, and others argue that it is impossible to have just the positive characteristics of perfectionism -having such lofty, personal goals necessarily invites in the “negative” side....

Based on my professional experience so far, I tend to lean towards the latter - I can’t think of anyone I have met who demonstrates solely perfectionistic strivings in practice, although I am not going to claim that this means they don’t exist. I can certainly think of people who deal with the concerns aspect very effectively, and people who have more minimal perfectionistic concerns that tend to only come out under specific circumstances. But the concerns still exist, and it seems to me that perfectionistic concerns could in part be a natural product of the human tendency to experience negative emotion when things aren’t going well. This is also an issue with categorisation - most characteristics realistically occur on a spectrum of intensity.

There are also other “categories” of perfectionism that speak to the relational side - self-oriented (setting high standards for oneself), other-oriented perfectionism (setting high standards for others) and socially prescribed (believing others demand high standards from you), however it seems to me that these are often part and parcel of the previously discussed forms of perfectionism - they just speak to specific aspects of it.

So we can at least say from the available literature that perfectionism has different flavours that involve different behaviours, attitudes and feelings. The literature has less to say about how these dimensions fluctuate according to situation within the individual, but this is a common failure across most theories of personality and characteristics. This is one of the first flaws in relying on academic literature when it comes to understanding your own patterns. The best thing to do here is to look at the dimensions described above and identify which situations are more likely to give rise to those tendencies for you.

What are the consequences?

Research is often mixed in psychology, but general trends suggest that when it comes to performance in exercise or sport, on average perfectionistic strivings are generally mildly helpful, whereas perfectionistic concerns tend to be experienced as at best ambivalent and at worst negative. More specifically, perfectionistic strivings tend to be ASSOCIATED with better performance and various positive outcomes, whilst perfectionistic concerns often have no relationship with performance and more associations with negative outcomes. (Note the emphasis on the word “associated” - there is rarely causal proof in psychology, mostly just statistical relationships which show that changes in one variable mirror changes in another to some extent).

Interestingly though, strivings are ALSO associated with negative outcomes. Qualitative research (non-statistical, verbal data such as interviews) in particular unveils this reality, with even individuals describing themselves as “positive” perfectionists citing behaviours that are more explicitly unhealthy or detrimental. There are also various studies identifying factors that potentially mediate or moderate the impact of perfectionism on these various outcomes - in other words, there are factors through which perfectionism is related to the outcomes in question, or factors that strengthen or weaken the relationship between perfectionism and said outcome.

The bottom line is that the impact of perfectionism on relevant outcomes is not straightforward, and there are factors that can make it more of a positive thing or a negative thing. Again, I would recommend looking at all of the ways in which perfectionism manifests in your own behaviour and attitudes and considering how that knocks onto your ultimate participation and performance.

Why does it happen?

So where does perfectionism come from, and why do so many people take up this psychological position, even if it seems more negative?

This is a question that academic research inevitably cannot answer well, simply because there are no ways of establishing retrospective causes of pre-existing perfectionism, nor being able to isolate the effects of one potential cause from all the others in a person’s life. There are various associations observed between various factors and high levels of perfectionism - perfectionistic or demanding parents, particular personality types, controlling coaches - but this still doesn’t explain why some individuals in these circumstances do not become perfectionists. Professional practice literature (insight gained from real-life therapeutic practice) can go further to shed some light on the perceived aetiology of these patterns in terms of individuals’ personal history, but again this is not causal evidence.

So the best we can do is make an educated guess and put forward reasonable hypotheses based on these associations. We can take these factors into account and also consider a question that the academic literature largely fails to consider: “what does perfectionism serve to do for the person, and therefore what mains it”? This is a particularly large hole in the literature when it comes to the sport and exercise spaces, as much of it is focused on the question of “what are the outcomes?”

All behaviours, both overt (external, physical behaviours) and covert (internal psychological processes) have what psychologists call a function - they have some kind of consequence that reinforces their continuation. This is something most schools of psychotherapeutic thought agree on. And whilst the specifics of the functions of perfectionism are going to vary significantly from person to person, more generally we can surmise that perfectionism is a management strategy that has helped people to navigate their environments in the best way they know how, at least in the past if not also the present. So again, you can only find the answer to the question of what perfectionism serves to do for you by looking at your own perfectionistic tendencies and identifying the consequences - internal (psychologically) and external (in your environment). You can go some way to doing this yourself, but the reality is you will get further along in this journey with a therapist or psychologist to help you.

Why academic conceptualisations fall short

Despite all of this useful information, academic literature is still limited when it comes to trying to understand how a psychological construct plays out in your individual life. While this may not be relevant for researchers looking for patterns, it is relevant to us as practising psychologists and anyone who reads this post hoping to understand and improve their own life. Let’s look specifically at why academic literature doesn’t have the answer some people suggest it does when it comes to individuals’ lives.

In the case of quantitative methods (gathering numerical data such as survey or behavioural data from large groups of people), academic research it is excellent for identifying common patterns across people, and in the case of qualitative research (non-statistical, verbal data such as interviews) it produces some descriptive data about the experiences of smaller groups of individuals. This is a good start in trying to develop a general picture of perfectionism and some shared language around it. However one-off statistical surveys or interviews, even if repeated a few times, can necessarily only provide a brief snapshot, and that is assuming they even measure what they purport to be measuring.

A more complete picture then might also include professional practice and psychotherapeutic literature which are based more on practical experience of therapists who are working with individual clients. But even that would be incomplete without a serious analysis of your own real-life situation and experiences as the individual. Having said that, what academic research is good for as an individual is telling you about ways of describing a phenomenon such as perfectionism that tend to be common across many people, and thus give you a basic structure through which to start looking at your experience.

Keep an eye out for our next perfectionism blog that will build on this discussion and offer practical ways of understanding perfectionism in your own life.

Chloe

Psychology of Movement