Perfectionism
In Perspective

Perfectionism in Perspective
Module 3

What keeps perfectionism going?
Introduction

2

How do Unrelenting High Standards keep perfectionism going?

2

Information Processing

3

Self-criticism and unhelpful thinking styles

4

Perfectionism Behaviours

5

Reward and Reinforcement

6

Model of Perfectionism: How Perfectionism Is Maintained

7

How my Perfectionism is Maintained - worksheet

9

Module Summary

10

About This Module

11

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Introduction
In Modules 1 and 2 we talked about how perfectionism can develop, and the consequences of pursuing
perfectionism. Before starting to tackle your perfectionism it is important to understand how
perfectionism is maintained and why it is so difficult to let go of high standards, even when pursuit of thesestandards has negative consequences. In this module, we will explore what keeps perfectionism going.

How Do Unrelenting High Standards Keep Perfectionism Going?
Not achieving the standard you set
Unrelenting high standards are so high that they cannot be achieved all the time. Instead of concluding thatthe expectation was unrealistic, perfectionists will draw the conclusion that they did not work hard enoughor they have failed. Some perfectionists will just give up altogether and others will try even harder. For
example, if you set the standard for yourself that you must achieve a High Distinction in every university
assignment you submit, what do you think will happen when you don’t achieve a Distinction? You might bethinking: “I should have tried harder” and feel disappointed or upset. Some people might work even hardernext time and some might give up altogether.
Refer to the standards you identified in the previous module. What happens when you do not achieve thestandards you have set for yourself?

Achieving the standard set but at a cost!
In some cases, the standard is achieved but only at great personal cost. For example, achieving thestandard you set may require a large amount of time and effort to be spent on a task. The cost of this isthat there is less time and energy available for other important activities (e.g., relaxation, socialising). You
have already identified some of the costs of your perfectionism in Module 1.
There may also be a physical cost of the long-term pursuit of unrelenting high standards. Researchers haveshown that high levels of a hormone (cortisol) are secreted into the bloodstream during times of highstress. Cortisol can have some positive effects in the short-term (e.g., a quick burst of energy, heightened
memory, lower sensitivity to pain), but with perfectionism, high levels of stress (and cortisol) aremaintained for long periods and the body is not able to recover properly. This can have several harmful
consequences in the long-term (e.g., impaired mental performance, suppressed thyroid function, decreasedbone density, higher blood pressure, lowered immunity, increased abdominal fat).

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Achieving the standard and then re-setting the standard
Unfortunately, even if a high standard is set and achieved, most perfectionists do not feel happy about thisfor very long. Some might see this as a “fluke” or decide that the standard set was not high enough, andset a higher standard the next time.
In his previous job Peter had applied for a promotion. When he got
promoted to manager he was momentarily pleased but then hestarted thinking that this was because no-one else applied for the
position. He started worrying about whether he was capable ofdoing the role. He arrived early at work so that he would have time
to do extra preparation each day and he stayed late at the end of
the day. He was starting to get exhausted and his wife wascomplaining that he was not spending enough time at home.
Refer to the standards you identified in the previous module. What happens when you do achieve astandard you have set for yourself?

Information Processing
The way we make sense of what goes on around us (how we process information) also plays a big part inmaintaining perfectionism. There is so much happening in our environment at any one time – so muchinformation – that to make sense of all of it is impossible. For this reason, our brains choose what we pay
attention to and how we make sense of things. Often, it’s our beliefs that determine what we pay attention
to and how we think about these things. We tend to pay attention to and interpret things according towhat we expect. As a result, we tend to remember only things that happen in our lives that are consistent
with what we believe to be true. This process of attending to and interpreting things in a manner that is
consistent (rather than inconsistent) with our beliefs, is typical of all people.
Let’s look at this further using an example that is not related to perfectionism. For example, you may havethe belief: “My neighbours are noisy.” This belief may be based on your experience of the first night they
moved into the house next door and had a loud party that kept you awake till early morning. However,
you might still hold your belief about your neighbours, which started from that first night, because:••

you only pay attention to your neighbours at times when they are noisy, not at times when they
are quiet
you interpret noise you hear as coming from those particular neighbours, often without checking
if this is the case

Therefore, whenever the topic of your neighbours comes to mind, you only remember the occasions thatthey have been noisy. Your original belief: “My neighbours are noisy”, holds strong.
Let’s try another example, but this time related to perfectionism. Imagine you hold a strong belief orstandard: “I must never make mistakes”. This is a conclusion that you developed following certain
experiences you had when you were younger, but how does this affect your information processing now?
Holding the belief: “I must never make mistakes” means that you will probably look out for any mistakes orsigns of failure so you can correct these immediately. For example, you might repeatedly look through aforCentrelinical
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report for errors. You probably will not pay much attention to successes and it is unlikely that you will
acknowledge the times when you had done an acceptable job – those times are never given a second
thought because to you they are “no big deal”. Therefore, you only pay attention to negative incidents that
confirm your belief: “I must never make mistakes”. You probably also have an extreme view of what
success and failure is, with no middle ground. You might easily jump to the extreme conclusion that you
have failed at something, when realistically you might not have done too badly at all (e.g., “I didn’t get an A
on the assignment – this is terrible, and I should never make mistakes like this again”).
Refer to the standards you identified on Page 3. How do your standards influence what you pay attention
to and how you interpret ambiguous information? Is your processing of information biased in any way?

Self-criticism and Unhelpful Thinking Styles
Perfectionists tend to be extremely self-critical, especially if they are unable to meet their high standards.
They might say things to themselves such as: “I am such an idiot” or: “I should have tried harder”. This
self-criticism keeps perfectionists feeling bad about themselves – they may feel guilty, stressed, worried,depressed, or angry. Negative emotions such as these are usually preceded by a number of unhelpful selfcritical statements and thoughts. Often there is a pattern to these thoughts and we call these unhelpful
thinking styles. We have noticed that people use unhelpful thinking styles as an automatic habit; it issomething they do unconsciously. However, when a person consistently uses some of these styles ofthinking, they can often cause themselves a great deal of emotional distress.
We are now going to describe a range of thinking styles that are common in people withperfectionism. Notice any thinking patterns and styles that you use often.
Black and white thinking
This thinking style involves seeing only one extreme or the other. You are right or wrong, good or bad,and so on. There are no in-betweens or shades of grey.
e.g., “If I make one mistake I am a complete failure”; “If I don’t scrub my kitchen with bleach after every meal thenit’s not clean”
Mental filter
This thinking style involves a ‘filtering in’ and ‘filtering out’ process – a sort of ‘tunnel vision’, focusing on
only one part and ignoring the rest. Usually this means only looking at the negative parts of a situation andforgetting the positive parts.
e.g., noticing the one error on a report and ignoring the fact that the rest of the report is flawless‘Shoulding’ and ‘Musting’Sometimes by saying: “I should...” or “I must...” you can put unreasonable demands or pressure on yourself
and others. Although these statements can be helpful (e.g., “I must not drink and drive”), they can sometimes
create unrealistic expectations (e..g., “I must never make mistakes”)

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Catastrophising
Catastrophising occurs when we “blow things out of proportion” and we view a situation as awful, dreadful,horrible, even though the reality is that the problem itself is in fact quite small.
e.g., “It is terrible that I wasn’t able to clean my house today”
Labelling
We label ourselves and others when we make global statements based on behaviour in specific situations.
We might use this label even though there are many more examples that aren’t consistent with this label.
e.g., “I am an idiot for not knowing the capital of Brazil”
Jumping to Conclusions
We jump to conclusions when we assume that we know what someone else is thinking (‘mind reading’) andwhen we make predictions about what is going to happen in the future (‘predictive thinking’).
e.g., “If I am not perfectly groomed then people will think I am a slob and they will reject me”
Magnification and Minimisation
In this thinking style, you magnify the positive attributes of other people and minimise your own positive
attributes. It is as though you are explaining away your own positive characteristics or achievements asthough they are not important.
e.g., “My boss only gave me a promotion because she was being nice and no-one else applied for the position”
Do you tend to be self-critical? What kinds of unhelpful thinking styles do you recognise as being part ofyour perfectionism?

We will be providing strategies to help you challenge your perfectionistic thinking in Module 6.

Perfectionism Behaviours
Perfectionists also engage in a range of unhelpful behaviours to make sure they continue to meet the highstandards they set for themselves. You have probably been engaging in at least some of these behaviours
for a long time. You may not even realise that you do these things to maintain your unrelenting highstandards as they have become so much a part of your routine. In Module 1 we looked at perfectionism
behaviours. Let’s take another look at the list below and check off any behaviours that you engage in:
Procrastinating
Avoidance
Excessive checking
Reassurance seeking
Overcompensating
Repeating and correcting
Excessive organising and list making
Difficulty making decisions
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Giving up too soon
Not knowing when to stop
Correcting
Slowness
Failure to delegate
Hoarding
Attempts to change the behaviour of others

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If you are a perfectionist, it is likely that you checked several of these behaviours. Perfectionism behaviours
keep perfectionistic thinking going because, if you keep behaving this way, you never have the opportunity
to test out whether your perfectionistic thinking is true. This is like a vicious cycle in which perfectionistic
thoughts and behaviours keep each other going. Many of these behaviours are time-consuming (e.g.,excessive checking, overcompensating, repeating and correcting, slowness, failure to delegate, difficulty
making decision) and are done at the expense of other important activities (e.g., taking work homerather than spending time relaxing or with family). They may delay or interfere with attempts tomeet the standard set (e.g., procrastinating and avoidance, giving up too soon) and this can beinterpreted as a failure. Some of these behaviours also interfere with having good relationships withother people (e.g., attempts to change the behaviour of others, reassurance seeking). We will be helping
you reduce your perfectionism behaviours in Module 5.

Reward and Reinforcement
Finally, high standards and the pursuit of achievement are often highly valued by society and actively
reinforced by others. Students who do well at school or university are rewarded for their achievements byteachers and parents (e.g., by getting good marks, recognition, praise, and awards). Physical attractiveness,good health, and cleanliness are also rewarded by society (e.g., dressing nicely and staying clean is
associated with increased attractiveness). Or the pursuit of high standards may result in a promotion atwork and therefore better income. This reinforcement by others (external reinforcement) may contributeto the belief that you need to continue to be perfectionistic in order to achieve and be accepted by others.

Conversely, not achieving or pursuing high standards may have negative consequences. A child who isconstantly criticised for not doing things ‘perfectly’ may develop a belief that it is vital to do things
correctly. In adulthood, poor performance in a job interview may result in not being selected for that job.
These sorts of experiences reinforce the belief that it is important to do things to a very high standard.
It is not always others who reward or punish your efforts. Sometimes these responses are internallydriven (internal reinforcement). For example, you may be very self-critical when you make a mistake or
you may feel relief when you achieve a high standard.
We are now going to see how all of these concepts work together to create a vicious cycle that keeps
perfectionism going. We will illustrate this with a model that maps out the vicious cycle, and then use an
example to show how it operates.

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Model of Perfectionism: How Perfectionism Is Maintained
Model of Perfectionism: The Pursuit of Unrelenting Standards
SELF-WORTH OVERLY DEPENDENT ON:
THE PURSUIT AND ACHIEVEMENT OF UNRELENTING STANDARDSUnderlying rules/assumptions are activated (e.g., musts, shoulds & can’ts)…

SET UNRELENTING STANDARDS
Perfectionism Behaviours(e.g., Excessive checking, procrastination)

Perfectionistic Thinking
Evaluate performance in an all-or-nothing style,
Look out for mistakes or signs of failure
Re-set standards
even higher

Fail tomeet
standards

Self-Criticism
Negative Consequences
Social isolation
Time consuming
Low mood, anxiety
Narrowing of interests
Health problems, e.g., insomnia,
inability to concentrate

Meet standards… but …

...decide that original
standards were notdemanding enoughPositive Consequences
Simplifies life
Achieves results, praise, recognition
Provides structure & control
Socially encouraged

The model illustrates the factors that keep perfectionism going. It shows that perfectionism might begin
with placing a great deal of importance on the pursuit and achievement of unrelenting standards to theextent that these efforts become the basis for which we place worth and value on ourselves. Our rules
and assumptions get activated and we set unrelenting high standards for ourselves. To make sure we meetthese standards, we engage in perfectionism behaviours and unhelpful thinking. This is harmful in many
ways. First, perfectionists tend to evaluate their experiences in a biased way by only paying attention to
mistakes or signs of failure. Second, because the standards set are unreasonable, the perfectionist may
procrastinate or give up altogether. In this case, the person has not met the standard set and is likely to
become self-critical, which just reinforces their earlier belief that they need to achieve in order to be avaluable person. Third, if the perfectionist does achieve the standard set they may experience some shortfor
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term relief but, in the long-term, may conclude that the standard set was not high enough and re-set thestandard for next time. In any case, the pursuit of unrelenting high standards is associated withconsiderable cost (e.g., social isolation, low mood). When we value ourselves largely on the basis of ourachievements or our attempts to achieve high standards, then it is likely that perfectionism will become
problematic.
Now we will have another look at this perfectionism model using the example of Polly:
Model of Perfectionism: How Polly’s Perfectionism is Maintained
I judge my self-worth: largely by how well I perform at basketball

Underlying rules/assumptions are activated:
I MUST be the highest goal scorer on the team.
If I do not score the highest number of goals I will lose my place in the teamSet Unrelenting Standard: I must always improve on my basketball
Perfectionism Behaviours
Practice, practice, practice! Don’t know when to stop.
Don’t delegate scoring goals. Check performance for errors.

Perfectionistic Thinking
Pay attention to any goals that I missed in the gameThink I have failed if I did not score as many goals as previous week
I will score evenmore goals next
time

Score fewer goals
than previous
game

Think “I am hopeless”“I will never be any
good”

Score more goals
than last match …
but …

Decide that I didn’t set mygoals high enough

Negative Consequences

Positive Consequences

I criticise other team-mates
Coach has given me a warning
Less time to spend with friends

I feel better about myself when I do well
My team-mates are happy when we win
My coach praises me

Now it is your turn…Let’s see how your perfectionism is maintained. Referring to the model on Page 7,
complete the worksheet overleaf.
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Model of Perfectionism: How My Perfectionism Is Maintained
I judge my self-worth largely by how well I

Underlying rules/assumptions are activated (e.g., musts, shoulds & cants)…

Set Unrelenting Standard:

Perfectionism Behaviours

Perfectionistic Thinking
Look out for mistakes/failure:
Black and white thinking:Re-set standards
even higher:

Fail to meet standards:

Meet standards … but …

Self-Criticism:

Decide that original standards
were not demanding enough:Negative Consequences

Positive Consequences

Now that you’ve been introduced to the model of perfectionism and seen how being setting unrelenting
standards keeps the perfectionism going, in a vicious cycle, we will look at the impact of perfectionism on
your life. Join us in the next module to decide whether you want to loosen up your unrelenting standards.
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Module Summary•••

Unrelenting high standards keep perfectionism going because they are not achievable all of the timeor only achievable at great personal cost.
Other things that keep perfectionism going include:• the way we make sense of the things that happen around us (our attention andinterpretation)• self-criticism and unhelpful thinking styles• perfectionism behaviours• reward and reinforcement (from self and others)
We can put all of these things together into a model of the vicious cycle that keeps perfectionism
going.

What I Have Learned in this Module
Think about what you have learned in this module and any useful bits of information, tips or strategies thatyou want to remember. Write them down below so you can refer to them later.

Think about how you might use the information you have just learned. Write down some ways in which
you could make use of this information.

Coming Up…
In Module 4 (Changing Perfectionism) you will have an
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About this Module
CONTRIBUTORS
Dr. Anthea Fursland (Ph.D.1)
Principal Clinical Psychologist
Centre for Clinical Interventions

Dr. Anna Steele (Ph.D.1)
Clinical Psychologist
Centre for Clinical Interventions

Dr. Bronwyn Raykos (MPsych2, Ph.D.1)
Clinical Psychologist
Centre for Clinical Interventions
1

Doctor of Philosophy (Clinical Psychology)

Dr. Louella Lim (D.Psych.3)
Clinical Psychologist
Centre for Clinical Interventions
2

Master of Psychology (Clinical Psychology)3

Doctor of Psychology (Clinical)

BACKGROUND
The concepts and strategies in this module have been developed from evidence-based psychologicaltreatment, primarily Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT). CBT for perfectionism is based on the approachthat perfectionism is the result of problematic cognitions (thoughts) and behaviours.

REFERENCES
Antony, M. M. & Swinson, R. P. (1998) When Perfect Isn’t Good Enough. New Harbinger Publications,Oakland, Ca.
Kearns, H., Forbes, A., & Gardiner, M. (2007). A cognitive behavioural coaching intervention for thetreatment of perfectionism and self-handicapping in a nonclinical population. Behaviour Change, 24, 157-172.
Scott, E. (2008). Cortisol and Stress: How to Stay Healthy.
http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm
Shafran, R., Cooper, Z. and Fairburn, C. G. (2002) Clinical Perfectionism: a cognitive-behavioural analysis.
Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40, 773-791“PERFECTIONISM IN PERSPECTIVE”
This module forms part of:
Fursland, A., Raykos, B. and Steele, A. (2009). Perfectionism in Perspective. Perth, Western Australia: Centre
for Clinical Interventions.
ISBN: 0-975799576

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Created: March 2009

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