What is

Perfectionism?
Perfectionism De ned When amla Perfectionist?
Perfectionism is not necessarily about being 'perfect. Ask
Being perfectionist doesn't necessarily mean you have
a
yourself this question... Is it ever really possible to be
unrelenting high standards in every area area of your life. lt
100% perfect? So, if it's not about being 'perfecc, hen
is possible to be a perfectionist in one area of your life (e-g.
what do we mean when talk about perfectionism?
work), but not another (eg. grooming).
Although there's no perfect de nition, we understand
perfectionism to involve: Areas of life in which your perfectionism may are up
1.The relentless striving for extremely high standards (for include:
yourself and/or others) that are personally demanding. in Work,
the context of the individual. (Typically, to an outsider the Study,
standards are considered to be unreasonable given the 0 Housework/cleaning,
circumstances) Closerelationships,
2. Judging your self-worth based largely on
Eating/weight/shape,
your ability to strive for and achieve such Grooming/personal hygiene,
unrelenting standards. Sport,
3. Experiencing negative consequences of 0 Health & tness.
setting such demanding standards, yet
continuing to go for them despite the huge
cost to you. How am Ia perfectionist?
The Paradox of Perfectionism Some common types of perfectionistic behaviours include:
Struggling to make decisions in a timely manner (e.g.
Many people think of perfectionism as something positive.
not being able to decide what to wear to work each
It is often seen as the pursuit of excellence, setting high
morning).
standards, and working hard to challenge one's self.
People often have good reasons for being perfectionists.
Reassurance seeking Eg, asking others to check your
They may say that it allows them to be ef cient, organised,
work to ensure it is acceptable)
or prepared for anything Excessiveorganising and list making. (E.g. repeatedly
writing and.re-writing lists of the tasks you want to get
Although having high standards and goals may help us done in the day).
achieve things in life, sometimes these standards get in the Giving up easily. (Es. giving up amenco after two
way of our happiness and can actualy impair performance. lessons because you can't keep up with the teacher
This is the paradox of perfectionism! (even though nobody can).
The excessive drive to achieve ever-higher levels of Procrastinating (Eg putting off starting an assignment
performance is self-defeating as it leaves you little chance for fear that it won't be good enough),
of meeting your goals and feeling good about yourself. ANot knowing when.to.stop (Eg
This kind of pressure is likely to cause you to feel arguing a point over and over, long
constantly on edge, tense, and stressed out. after others have lost interest)
Checking. (Eg, repeatedy looking in
Perfectionism can also make your self worth particularly the mirror forfacial blemishes).
vulnerable as not reaching the (possibly unachievable) Hoarding. (Eg, keeping your bank statements for 20
standards you set for yourself may result in you feeling like
years just in case you might need them).
a failure.
Slowness. (Eg, speaking slowly to ensure you say the
Pursuing these personally demanding standards can have a rightthing)
signi cant impact on your wellbeing. and can lead to Avoiding situations in which you may fail. (Eg, not
frustration, worry, social isolation, depression and a applying for jobs for fear that you will not get them).
persistent sense of failure.

For more detailed information regarding VWhat is Perfectionism, see Perfectionism in Perspective Module I.

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 what maintains
perfeEtionism?
Perfectionism involves: The relentless striving for Unrelenting Standards
extremely high standards; Judging your self-worth based Unrelenting high standards are so unrealistically high and
largely on your ability to achieve these standards; And in exible that we are unlikely to be able to meet the
continuing to set demanding standards despite the cost standard, or will only be able to meet the standard at
associated with striving for them. considerable cost.
Sometimes when a person's self worth depends on When an unrelenting high standard is not met, instead of
their achievements they push themselves to attain concluding that it was unrealistic, perfectionists will
unrealistically high standards. They may act in ways conclude that they did not work hard enough or failed. In
intended to ensure that they meet these standards (e.g. future, some will give up altogether while others will try
checking. correcting): judge themselves harshly and even harder. Unfortunately, even if a high standard is
focus on their mistakes. They may criticise themselves achieved, most perfectionists do not feel
when they fail to meet their standards, affecting their happy about this for very long. Some might
self worth. If they meet their standards they may see it as a " uke" or decide that the
suggest that they were too low and set higher ones. standard set was not high enough, and set a
higher standard the next time.
Model of Perfectionism: Maintenance
Perfectionism Behaviours
Self worth overly dependent on the pursuit & Perfectionists also engage in a range of unhelpful
achievement of unrelenting standards behaviours to make sure they continue to meet the high
standards they set for themselves. E.g. procrastinating.
avoidance, checking. correcting. list-making. slowness etc.
Underlying rules/assumptions (e.g, musts/shoulds) These behaviours keep perfectionistic thinking going
because, ifyou keep behaving this way, you never have
the opportunity to test out whether your perfectionistic
Set unrelenting standards thinking is true. These behaviours may be time
consuming, done at the expense of other important
activities and may even delay or interfere wich attempts
Perfectionism Behaviours to meet the standard set.
(e.g. Excessive checking. procrastination).
Perfectionistic Thinking
|We usually to attend to and interpret things according to
Perfectionistic Thinking
Evaluation performance in an all-or-nothing style,
what we expect. Perfectionists tend to pay attention to
Look out for mistakes or signs of failure. any evidence that they are not achieving so they can
correct these immediately. Perfectionists also have an
extreme view of what success and failure is, with no
Fail to meet standards. Meet standards...but... middle ground, causing them to judge themselves more
harshly than others would.

Self Criticism.
Often perfectionists evidence a pattern of unhelpful
Decide original standards
not demanding enough. thinking styles, including:
0Black & white thinking: seeing only extremes - no
shades of gray:
Shoulding & Musting: putting unreasonable demands
Underlying Rules & Assumptions on self and others;
Rules and assumptions that are exible and accurate Catastrophising: blowing things out of proportion;
provide helpful guides for living. However, Jumping to conclusions: assuming that we know what
rigid rules such as "the job is not done unless others are thinking, or can predict the future.
its perfect" and inaccurate assumptions such as
"ifI make a mistake the business will fail", tend For more information regarding what maintains Perfectionism see
to cause people to focus single-mindedly on Perfectionism in Perspective Module 3.
doing things 'perfectly.

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 perfectionism
behaviOUPS
A hallmark of perfectionism is the tendency to judge How these Behaviours maintain
your self worth largely on your ability to achieve high Perfectionism
standards. To meet their unrelenting high standards,
perfectionists tend to engage in a number of Perfectionism behaviours keep you from learning
perfectionism behaviours (e.g., repeatedly checking whether or not your perfectionistic beliefs are true. For
work for mistakes), which may serve to maintain example, a person who has dif culty delegating tasks to
perfectionistic beliefs. colleagues may hold the belief that this is necessary to
maintain their high standards in the work place. By
Perfectionism Behaviours continuing to not delegate work, the perfectionist is
unable to test our whether their beliefs are accurate.
Perfectionism behaviours can be divided into two
categories - the things you actively do as a result of Perfectionism Behaviours can also be problematic in
your perfectionism and the things you avoid doing as a that: they are often time consuming; they are sometimes
result of your perfectionism. done at the expense of other important activities; they
can impair relationships; and sometimes can actually
Perfectionism Active Behaviours interfere with attempts to meet the standard set.
Most perfectionists engage in actions aimed at reaching
che unrelenting standards they have set for themselves, Reducing Perfectionism Behaviours*
and perhaps others. They are so concerned about
reaching these high standards that they engage in One way to test the accuracy of perfectionistic beliefs is
behaviours that they see as necessary but that often tosee what happens when you behave differently
seem excessive to other people. Examples include:
0Excessive checking, Stepladders Towards Change
Excessive organising Choose a speci c goal behaviour to
List making. change,
Correcting others. Break the goal down into small steps
by changing who is there, what you
Perfectionism Avoidance do, when you do it, where you do it,
Behaviours and how long you do it for.
Many perfectionists also attempt to meet their Complete each step, one at a time,
unrelenting standards and avoid failure' by avoiding beginning with the least dif cult and
doing tasks. Although this may not seem like working your way up.
perfectionism, it is really the other side of the same Do a step frequently and repeatedly, to make sure
coin as engaging in actions aimed at meeting your you are comfortable with it before you move on.
unrelenting standards. When perfectionists fear that
they will not be able to reach their high standards, they Behavioural Experiments
may be too afraid of failure to try. Some may (-oD j Behavioural Experiments help loosen the grip
procrastinate by putting off a task, often inde nitely, of your perfectionism and test out the
while others will wait to the last minute before doing a accuracy of your perfectionistic beliefs by
task. Other examples include: seeing what happens when you change your
Giving up too soon, perfectionism behaviours.
0 Indecisiveness,
Avoiding tasks you fear you are unable to do We encourage you to try reducing your perfectionism
adequately. behaviours. You may be pleasantly surprised at how much
more time you have, and how little it offects your
performance!

For more detailed information regarding the use of these techniques

see Perfectionism in Perspective Module 5.

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 perfeetionistie
thinking
Perfectionists tend to determine their self worth based How Biased Information Processing
on their ability to achieve unrealistically high standards.
As a consequence, they may focus on information in
and Unhelpful Thinking maintain
their environment that they interpret as evidence that Perfectionism
they are not achieving, and criticise themselves harshly When people repeatedly focus on
when they fail to meet their standards. Such patterns information in their environment that is
of thinking serve to maintain the importance of attaining consistent with their beliefs and ignore
extremely high standards. information t at does not t with their
beliefs, it can appear as if their beliefs are
Biased Information Processing well supported. Likewise a person may perceive that
there is a lot of support for their beliefs if they
The way we make sense of what goes on around us
repeatedly interpret information in a way that is
plays a big part in maintaining perfectionism. Since
consistent with their beliefs.
chere is so much happening in our environment at any
one time, our brains choose what we pay attention to When perfectionists pay attention only to evidence that
and how we make sense of things. We tend to pay they are not achieving, or interpret neutral information
attention to and interpret things according to what as showing that they are not achieving, they tend to feel

we expect. bad about themselves. For the perfectionist, this then

underlines the importance of striving to achieve, thereby
Since achieving extremely high standards provides the
keeping their perfectionism going
basis for a perfectionist's self worth, they tend to pay
careful attention to any evidence that they take to Perfectionists' repeated criticism of themselves not only
mean that they are not achieving. For example, if a causes them to feel uncomfortable emotions, it also
perfectionist believes"I must never make mistakes". emphasizes the importance of achieving their
they will probably quickly pick up errors in their work unrealistically high standards. The negative thinking
that other people may not notice. styles that they rely on cause them to place
unreasonable pressures on themselves, see only the
Perfectionists also have a tendency to interpret
extremes and not accurately perceive situations. Such
information in a way that demonstrates that they are
negative thinking styles underlie perfectionists'
not achieving. They often have an extreme view of unreasonable standards and harsh self criticism.
what success and failure is, with no middle ground. For
example, they may say "missing out on an A for this
assignment means that might as well have failed".
I
Reducing UnhelpfulThinking*
One way to check out the accuracy of perfectionistic
Self Criticism& Unhelpful Thinking thoughts and nd more helpful and balanced ways of
Perfectionists tend to be extremely self-critical, thinking is to use a thought diary.
especially if they are unable to meet their high
standards. They might say to themselves: "l am such an Thought Diaries
idiot" or "I should have done better". This self- Thought diaries are designed to help you
criticism can cause people to feel a range of negative become aware of your negative thoughts and
emotions including anger, anxiety, depression and guilt. notice how these thoughts affect how you
Often these negative thoughts re ect an unhelpful feel and behave. Thought diaries can also
style of thinking such as: help you investigate the accuracy and
Black & white thinking: seeing only extremes no helpfulness of your negative thoughts and
shades of gray: develop new more balanced thoughts.
Shoulding & Musting: putting unreasonable demands
on self and ochers;
Catastrophising: blowing things out ofproportion; For detailed information regarding the use of these techniques see
Perfectionism in Perspective Module 6.
Jumping to conclusions: assuming that we know
what others are thinking, or can predict the future.

entre
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 perfectionism
unhelpful rules & assumptions
Since perfectionists tend to judge their self worth Identifying Unhelpful Rules
largely on their ability to achieve high standards, they
often develop rules and assumptions designed to ensure
&Assumptions
chat they meet these standards. Although many rules
To identify the unhelpful rules and assumptions that
underlie your unrealistically high standards, ask yourself:
are healthy and useful, rigid rules and inaccurate
assumptions can cause people to hold unrealistic oWhat dol expect of myselfat
expectations about themselves and others, which if work or school?
unmet may bring about disappointment and criticism. Whot standards do expect myself
I
to meet?
Helpful& Unhelpful Rules oWhat do I expect ofmyself in my various roles - child,
We all need rules for living to help us make sense of friend, partner, porent, stoff member/supervisor?
the world and to cope with our everyday lives. So
having rules, in itself, is not a bad thing. Helpful rules
What might happen i relax my standards?

are realistic, exible and adaptable. For example, oWhat do I criticise in other people? What standards
the rule "it is good to try to eat healthy food" is helpful
dol expect them to live up to?

since it is based on evidence that shows that people

who eat healthily have fewer health problems, and since Adjusting The Rules
it is exible as it allows for times when it is preferable Generating a more helpful rule or assumption involves
to eat less healthy foods (e.g. birthdays). thinking of another way to see yourself and the world
that is balanced, exible to different circumstances, and
Unhelpful rules are in exible, rigid, and realistic given the real state of affairs. When thinking of
unreasonable. For example, the rule "I must never how to put the new rule or assumption into practice,
make mistakes" is unhelpful because it not possible or work out how you would act in everyday life if you
reasonable that we would be able to maintain this already believed the new helpful rule or assumption, and
standard and this means we are likely to feel bad when then making a point of acting that way. Often when we
we make a mistake. act as if something were true, we actually start to take it
on board and believe it.
Unhelpful Rules & Perfectionism
Perfectionists' self esteem is based heavily on their To challenge your unhelpful rules and assumptions about
ability to attain extremely high standards. Consistent
your perfectionism,there are six steps to take:
with their belief in the importance of achieving these .
2.
ldentify your unhelpful rule or assumption
high standards, their lives are often directed by a Work out where it comes from or how it developed
number of rules and assumptions designed to ensure Question whether your rule is realistic or
that they meet their high standards. reasonable or achievable
Some rules commonly held by Recognise the negative consequences of having and
perfectionists include: keeping this rule
Fear of failure (e.g.. "I must do 5. Develop a more helpful rule or assumption
things perfectly", or 6. Plan how you would need to act in every day life to

"I try, then I will only fair"). put this new helpful rule or assumption into practice
0 Shoulds & musts
(eg, "My house must be tidy at all times"). Remember, practice is very important
All-or-nothing (eg. "There is a right and a wrong way for challenging your perfectionism.
to do things"). We urge you to practice, and remind
Constant checking (e.g.. "I must weigh myselfseveral you that you don't have to achieve
times a doy to make sure I'm not goining weight"). change 'perfectly' or even quickly.
Control (eg. "I must be prepared for anything'").
Such unhelpful rules often form the basis for the
For more detailed information regarding Adjusting Unhelpful Rules
unrealistically high standards that perfectionists set for and Assumptions see Perfectionism in Perspective Module 7.
themselves.
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 Re-evaluating
the importanee of Achieving
People who are perfectionists tend to be However, when people base much of their self-worth on
overly concerned with achievement and the only one thing in their lives, they are putting a
pursuit of unrelenting standards. They often tremendous amount of pressure on themselves to
rely on their ability to achieve unrelenting make sure that it works out. That's why it's not
standards as a basis on which to judge their surprising that perfectionists tend to be overly focused
self-worth. In turn, this can have a big impact on the on achieving the high standards they set themselves.
balance of their lives. And they often feel stressed, irritable, depressed,
anxious or guilty, and think negatively about themselves.
How can Overevaluation of Achieving When a goal is achieved they may feel relieved, but they
affect an Individual's Self Worth? don't tend to feel happy for very long. In fact,
perfectionists tend to dismiss their success ("l was just
Most people evaluate their self-worth based on a lucky") or conclude that the standard
set was too low ('anyone could have
variety of things. When judging their self-worth, they
might consider their personal qualities such as kindness, done that") and re-set the standard
loyalty, willingness to help people, sense of humour, higher for next time.
relationships with family, friends, partner, and skills such
as achievements at work or school, ability to play port,Tacklingthe Over-evaluation of
cook, or play a musical instrument. They might Achieving
evaluate how happy they are based on how well
important things in their life are going. You may nd it helpful to think about the amount of
importance you place on each of the areas of your life
Perfectionists tend to judge their self-worth based that contribute to your self-worth.
almost entirely on achieving their unrelenting standards.
They overvalue achieving and achievement. They may If you nd that your self esteem overly
have other interests, but over time these seem to take
relies on your ability to achieve, you
a lesser place in their lives.
to consider broadening your
may want
interests. This will give you a chance to
This system of self-evaluation may have developed
develop other ways of feeling good about yourself, apart
through particular life experiences and/or positive
from the pursuit of those relentless high standards.
reinforcement from people around them. People who
try hard and are successful are often rewarded by ldentify the other areas of your life that may have once
others (eg. praise, high marks, promotion at work) so been important to your self-worth but have now taken a
achieving can become equated with being hard-working, lesser place. Choose one area you would like to start
-
conscientious, and intelligent in short, being of worth. with and then think of some activities you could engage
Perfectionists come to believe that they are only of in to help you do that.
worth if they are pursuing or achieving the high
standards they set for themselves. You might nd yourself thinking that you don't feel like
doing this activity and want to put it off until you feel
The Impact of overly-relying on ready. Don't-act now! People often want to wait
until they feel motivated before they act. However, an
Achievement to Judge SelfWorth important thing to bear in mind is, motivation may not
Since perfectionists base their self worth on their ability come on its own, but when you ACT rst, motivation
to achieve unrelenting standards, they tend to work will then follow. Remember, ACTION before
extremely hard to achieve these standards. MOTIVATION, and you'll soon nd that your life will be
Perfectionists often perceive this as highly bene cial. more balanced. You will be less preoccupied with only
They may argue that by focussing all their energy on one aspect of your life, and less dependant on that
one area they are more likely to achieve their success and achievement for your self-evaluation.

standards. Indeed, because of their hard work they

have the potential to perform well. For detailed information regarding the use of these techniques see
Perfectionism in Perspective Module 8.

Centrefor
This document is for information purposes only. Please refer to the full disclaimer and copyight statement available at
linical
http:/www.cci.health.wa.gov.au regarding the information from this website before making use of suchinformation.
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