Adaptive Perfectionism Among College Students

During my freshman year, what I viewed as the worst possible event happened, (PAUSE) I got a B on my report card. I know that sounds dramatic but freshman me thought my world was ending. I now know that a B is a perfectly acceptable grade and that it's not the end of the world. But this raises the question, why did I think that a B was such a bad thing? Last year I worked on figuring out why I viewed B's as a bad thing. The end result of my thinking was that I am a perfectionist. Merriam Webster Dictionary defines perfectionism as “refusal to accept any standard short of perfection.” The reach for perfection can be painful because it is often driven by both a desire to do well and a fear of the consequences of not doing well. The problem is

The success of college depends on so many factors that can inhibit or enhance a person’s ability to do well. Many college students are affected by multiple factors at once making their success in college challenging. This paper focuses on two factor out of the many factors that contribute to the success of a college students.

Learning goals are unique per person as each student wants to improve on different things. Coming to the end of this course, I realized it is important to set a goal that is SMART. “SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely” (Brock University, 2015). A weakness I have is testing. There are various areas that lead to my weakness in testing, however in order to fix it I know I have to work step by step. To make my goal attainable, I decided to start with improving my test anxiety. My goal is to improve my testing through controlling my anxiety.

Comparison will steal your joy. Right now, I see many traits in you that I see in myself. Perfectionism is something I see in both of us. I used to think these traits could be a great tool when you work, but then I read The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown and she stated, “Perfectionism is self-destructive simply because there is no such thing as perfect. Perfection is an unattainable goal” (pg. 57). Bug-a-boo, I know this isn’t something that you want to hear, but she is right. There is no such thing as being perfect. As I see you struggle as a nine-year-old to perfectly read that chapter book or make all of the kids like you at school, I just want to hug you and tell you that you are and always have been enough. I once heard in a song, “You’ll always measure up if you compare yourself to you”. You are the only person you need to focus on. I don’t mean the ideal “perfect daughter, sister, friend, student” portrait you try to paint yourself to be. I’m talking about the beautiful girl who loves to dance down the hallway, the girl who leaves her school work scattered around the house, the girl who struggles, the girl who is human. Additionally, keep in mind, comparing yourself to others robs you of the potential YOU were given. And trust me, that potential is

The result of the study found that the anxieties of students before an exam is can be explained by students’ perfectionism and performance achievement goals. As test anxiety increases, perfectionist characteristics and performance goals also increases. The more the expectation from other people and goals the higher the person’s academic anxiety. Perfectionist characteristics also play an important role in test anxiety, the unrealistic expectations of a person from himself/herself and from other people, if not satisfied, can lead to test anxiety. Students who have high standards on their test outcome will do all the efforts to succeed and it can cause them the feeling of being not good enough and fear of failing because people will evaluate

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), anxiety disorders are the most common mental health problem, but many types of anxiety exist. The most frequent among children and adolescents is the infamous “test anxiety” (“Live and Thrive,” 2016). Sixteen to twenty percent of students in the U.S. experience high levels of test anxiety; another eighteen percent carry moderate levels of test anxiety. Since 2010, test anxiety levels in schools have risen over twenty percent due to the drastic requirements used for college entrance and state exams (Driscoll, n.d., p.1). Even a typical test can send these students into a panic. This makes perfectionists and adolescents with

According to Nadeem et al research study (2012), at the point when nervousness builds, scholastic accomplishment diminishes in both male and female understudies. On the other hand, Dobson (2012) research suggests that anxiety can be limited if tended to at an early age. Diminishing nervousness levels in students is vital for making a difference to expand scholarly accomplishment. Students of all scholastic accomplishment levels experience the ill effects of scholarly nervousness. Indeed, even students who do well on classwork and homework can experience the ill effects of test nervousness and do inadequately on tests. Meager scholastic execution can expand uneasiness levels. Talented students who are sticklers can experience the ill effects

My client came to seek help on their perfectionism at the workplace. My client’s department chair was instructed by the principal to make copies and have the copies filled out by their co-workers within their department. My client waited for the copies but realized they were not done towards the end of the day. The copies were not made until after working hours and were given to the teachers the following day. My client did not like the way their department chair organized the paperwork. My client thought he/she could do better and more efficient with the stack of

believe that socially prescribed perfectionists are more prone to psychological distress, show symptoms of moodiness, nervousness, and can be described as touchy or emotional (Pervin, Cervonne, & John, 2005).

mediation analysis showed that the link between the socially prescribed aspect of perfectionism and burnout (emotional exhaustion) was mediated by workaholism.

“You’re so perfect. You attend church all the time. You must never do anything wrong.” These words have been spoken over me my entire life. Growing up in church, I never felt a pressure to be “perfect”, but I did have a sense of things I thought were generally “good” or “bad” and made my best attempt to make the correct decision.

Past research has not yet identified the relationship between perfectionism and stress in blue ribbon schools (high performing schools) and non-blue ribbon schools (low performing schools). The study will also be looking into socioeconomic status (SES) as a moderator of where the student goes to school and how that can play a role when measuring these two constructs. Perfectionism will be looked at generally for this study and not broken down into the different types of perfectionism. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the impact of stress and perfectionism on academic achievement varies between blue-ribbon and non-blue-ribbon schools. The research hypothesis of this current study is that there will be a positive

Table 9 also presents the R Square, which is .013. This means that only 1% of variance in EFL teachers’ depersonalization is explained by conscientious perfectionism scores, which could be considered as a very small effect size according to Cohen’s guidelines for effect size.

Life These days is extremely challenging, demanding and competitive as well. We are living in a world that values perfection, and believes that doing things perfectly is the shortest way to happiness and success. College life is the most demanding life a human can face. Two Thirds of human are being obsessed with the finicky and obsessive mind-set known as perfectionism. So it is a surprise to the majority of students and people in general that there is a serious connection between the term depression and the term perfectionism. Especially, because at this life stage, the students are experiencing a new kind of life that requires them to be more dependent and self-confident

To be perfect is impossible. But the ability to achieve the impossible is the temptress. Perfectionism has been described as a multidimensional personality disposition. Indicating that the multiple dimensions can show either different or opposite correlations with maladaptive or adaptive psychological processes (Stoeber, Corr, Smith, & Saklofske, 2016). It is a personality disposition that can be characterized by a striving for flawlessness and setting exceedingly high standards for oneself. These standards can pertain to performances that are subsequently accompanied by self-critical evaluations and the perception that others expect one to be perfect (Stoeber, 2016; Stoeber, Edbrooke-Childs, & Damian, 2016). Perfectionism is a disposition that pervades all areas of life including but not limited to work, school, personal appearance, and social relationships (Stoeber, Edbrooke-Childs, & Damian, 2016).