The Perfectionism Paradox: Why Your High Standards Are Actually Lowering Your Performance

A major 2022 study tracking students over multiple years found that "adaptive perfectionism was related with better performance on the exam, whereas maladaptive perfectionism was not" (Endleman et al., 2022). Even more surprising, a 2024 study of 1,287 university students discovered that students with high perfectionism scores showed "higher levels of fatigue, anxiety, depression, and hostility" despite their academic focus.