perfectionism – News, Research and Analysis – The Conversation

April 17, 2020

The perils of perfectionism during lockdown

Fuschia Sirois, University of Sheffield

If you secretly want lockdown to last longer so you can achieve your goals, you're not alone.

December 20, 2019

Perfectionistic students get higher grades, but at what cost?

Daniel Madigan, York St John University

A focus on more realistic performance outcomes can help students cope when things do not go to plan.

Skills of well-being have been forgotten partly due to a combination of educational reforms and societal pressures. Unsplash/Oscar Chevillard

March 25, 2019

Unrealistic striving for academic excellence has a cost

Tanya Chichekian, Université de Sherbrooke

A specialist in educational psychology says there are incremental risks associated with students developing an obsessive behaviour toward performance.

Perfectionism often develops in childhood, is impacted by parenting and can lead to mental health struggles in later life. (Shutterstock)

February 5, 2019

Young people drowning in a rising tide of perfectionism

Simon Sherry, Dalhousie University and Martin M. Smith, York St John University

New research shows that perfectionism has increased dramatically over the last 25 years, and that perfectionists become more neurotic and less conscientious as time passes.

Perfectionists are rarely satisfied with their performance or appearance and engage in harsh self-criticism when their efforts fall short. Perfectionists are also more likely to develop the eating disorder bulimia nervosa, according to new research. (Shutterstock)

November 1, 2018

Perfectionists more likely to develop bulimia: New research

Simon Sherry, Dalhousie University

Perfectionists have a higher chance of developing bulimia nervosa. Rather than treating symptoms of binge eating and vomiting, therapists should address this underlying personality trait.

Patricia Piccinini, Graham, 2016 Installation view, Nicole Cleary

September 24, 2018

Art and science come together to examine the power and perversions of perfection

Julie Shiels, RMIT University

A new Science Gallery Melbourne exhibition offers a set of reflections, calculations and speculations that engage with ideas about the perfect body, mathematical precision, quantum physics and a post-human world.

June 5, 2018

How perfectionism can lead to depression in students

Marianne Etherson, York St John University and Martin M. Smith, York St John University

Feeling that others are disappointed and disapprove of you and you must be perfect puts you at risk for depression.

February 9, 2018

Setting more exams to combat stress among school students is utterly absurd

Ceri Brown, University of Bath

Schools minister Nick Gibb seems to think young people should face more frequent testing, to prepare for GCSEs. His comments fly in the face of 20 years' research.

January 3, 2018

How perfectionism became a hidden epidemic among young people

Thomas Curran, University of Bath and Andrew P. Hill, York St John University

There is enormous pressure on young people to strive, perform and achieve. And the data indicate that many are struggling to cope.

Clinical perfectionists constantly strive for ambitious goals and judge their self-worth on the achievement of these goals. Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock

January 7, 2016

Clinical perfectionism: when striving for excellence gets you down

Tracey Wade, Flinders University

Some clinical perfectionists avoid or procrastinate because they fear not being able to meet their desired standards.

Trichotillomania is a psychological disorder that leads people to compulsively and uncontrollably pull out their own hair. Cavale Doom/Flickr

October 7, 2015

Pulling out your hair in frustration? What you need to know about trichotillomania

Imogen Rehm, Swinburne University of Technology and Reneta Slikboer, Swinburne University of Technology

People with trichotillomania often pull to the point of causing complete hair loss even though that's never intended or desired. And this eventually leaves them feeling depressed and isolated.

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