The Perfectionism Plague

Illustration: Pixabay, author: Gerd Altmann

By Evgeniya Lubennikova,
English language instructor,
The School of Foreign languages, HSE University.
She copleted the School of Trainers at the Academic Writing Center.
Evgeniya can be reached at e.fedorova@hse.ru.

When I heard my students speak English for the first time, I immediately knew that I had to show them off. Their native-like English and assertiveness made it crystal clear that I should organise a Pecha Kucha event at our university and it should be a blast with a star-studded cast.

A few words about what Pecha Kucha is. It is a simple presentation format where you show 20 images, each for 20 seconds. The images advance automatically and you talk along to images. Having originated in Tokyo in 2003, Pecha Kucha has become a global movement promoting the art of concise and creative presentations.

During the application frenzy, which followed the event announcement, I kept waiting for my best students’ creative ideas, but, to my surprise, I never got any! As the deadline was looming, I decided to simply ask them why. The answers varied from “I don’t have much to say” to “I’m so inundated with my studies that I won’t be able to prepare well enough”.

I was totally taken aback by their responses, but, as I’d set this ball rolling, there was no turning back. I went on with what I had — a couple of dozens of applications from persevering, gritty, creative but not so advanced students, whose texts needed an entire makeover from my part. The whirlwind of preparation and rehearsing totally enthralled me, resulting in the most awe-inspiring Pecha Kucha night ever. There were a couple of moments that I felt I was on the verge of tears as the presenters were so sincere, so passionate, so convincing.

At the back of my mind, however, I couldn’t help comparing the “perfect” group to the “gritty” one. How was it possible that those students who seemed to be perfectly cut out for an event like that refused to participate and those who needed to put in a great deal of effort were so willing? And the answer was right there in front of me: the perfect ones suffered from perfectionism — a self-fulfilling prophecy indeed!

While many people believe that perfectionism means ambition, commitment, hard work and high standards, recent research on the subject says otherwise. The thing is that perfectionism isn’t about high standards. It’s about unrealistic standards. Perfectionists are terrified of making mistakes and so threatened by the success of others that they are paralysed by fear, shame, and self-hatred for not being good enough.

The problem has been on the rise over the last 40 years. Thomas Curran and Andrew Hill’s recent meta-analysis of rates of perfectionism from 1989 to 2016, found significant increases among more recent undergraduates in the US, UK and Canada.

The urge to be perfect stems from a lot of factors that thrive in the modern world, for example, exposure to social media, the need to compete at school, the watchful eye of increasingly demanding parents, the list goes on. As a result, youngsters show lack of interest in life, give up easily, and develop mental health issues.

Fortunately, there are ways to combat perfectionistic behaviour. In his book “How to be an Imperfectionist” (2015), Stephen Guise calls perfectionism a naturally limiting mindset and suggests practicing self-acceptance, where “mistakes are allowed and self-judgement is minimal”.

There are numerous Ted talks given by inspirational perfectionists (check out the list below) that give their tips on how they are coping with the disorder, through, for example, viewing mistakes as proof that they are trying and getting inspired and encouraged by others who are doing great things in this world.

Here is a list of some invaluable advice that perfectionism researchers and experts give: