Marcus has a 98% average but hasn't started his major project due in three days. How can someone who cares SO much about quality avoid doing the work? Research from Tehran University studying 200 students found that "individuals with higher scores in perfectionism scale revealed more academic procrastination in comparison with individuals with lower scores."

The Plot Twist: Your Drive Isn't the Enemy

The goal isn't eliminating high standards. Recent research distinguishes "perfectionism" from "excellencism," showing excellencism correlates with "academic performance, creative achievement, self-esteem, and openness to experience" while perfectionism correlates with "symptoms of depression, psychological distress, and dropout intentions" (Gaudreau et al., 2024).

The secret: Transform rigid perfectionism into flexible excellence.

Wanting to do well on a test? Healthy. Spending 12 hours on a single math problem because it's "not perfect enough"? Dangerous territory. Professor Tracey Wade developed the Clinical Perfectionism Questionnaire (CPQ) to distinguish between healthy striving and problematic perfectionism.