Many people see perfectionism as essential for success. After all, setting high standards and achieving big goals can feel very rewarding.
Problem is, perfectionistic behavior can also come with a cost – it can get in the way of people’s relationships, and even lead to depression and anxiety.
So, is there something in a person’s brain that could shed more light on what’s happening with people who are perfectionistic (and why it sometimes creates so much suffering)?
Researchers at the University of Cologne wanted to get a better sense of perfectionism at the neurobiological level.
So to begin, Jutta Stahl, PhD and her team divided 75 participants into four main groups, based on results from surveys using the German version of Frost’s Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale.
Group one consisted of the non-perfectionists – these people did not exhibit any type of perfectionism.
Group two’s members scored high for Evaluative Concern Perfectionism – people with a high score on this dimension focus on what other people think of them, zeroing in on the negative evaluations in particular.
Group three had high scores for Personal Standard Perfectionism – and as you might have inferred from its name, this type of perfectionism generally stems from someone’s personal, internal standards.
Then last, group four consisted of those folks with high scores for both Evaluative Concern Perfectionism and Personal Standard Perfectionism.
Researchers then asked participants in each group to complete a task designed intentionally to ensure that participants made a lot of errors.
Dr. Stahl and her team using fMRI scanned the participants’ brains as they worked through the test, examining differences in brain activity.
Here’s what they saw . . .
. . . for participants who’d scored high for Personal Standard Perfectionism, the anterior cingulate cortex (that’s the error-processing part of the brain) was very active.
Not only that, high Personal Standard Perfectionism scorers’ brain activity also showed a slowing-down process after they made errors, which could allow them to learn from their mistakes and eventually correct course.
This was also true in the fourth group where participants scored high for both Personal Standard Perfectionism and Evaluative Concerns Perfectionism.
However, the anterior cingulate cortex of high Evaluative Concern Perfectionism scorers showed little activity when they made a mistake, as well as very little post-error slowing.
What conclusions might we draw?
The brains of people with more socially driven, external judgment-based perfectionism appear to handle error management less effectively than people with more self-motivated, personal-standard based perfectionism.
Seeing these differences in brain activation can give us key insight into the distinct types of perfectionism.
And perhaps more importantly, this research might suggest new ways to work with clients who struggle with perfectionism – particularly the more maladaptive type that can make them miserable.
If you’d like to know more about this study, you can find it in the 2017 edition of Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
And if you’re looking for more strategies for working with clients who are prone to perfectionism, check out this short course featuring Pat Ogden, PhD, Stephen Porges, PhD, Dan Siegel, MD, Richard Schwartz, PhD, Steven Hayes, PhD, and other top experts in the field.
Now we’d like to hear from you. How do you work with clients who struggle with perfectionism? Please leave a comment below.
I didn’t have any expectations concerning that title, but the more I was astonished. The author did a great job. I spent a few minutes reading and checking the facts. Everything is very clear and understandable. I like posts that fill in your knowledge gaps. This one is of the sort.
I usually ask them why perfectionism feels safe to them and what happened to them during developmental stages that started the perfectionism. We then explored if it is serving them now and what space it takes up and if they recognize what they might not be opening up space for that is more fulfilling and self-compassionate.
am curious to hear more about perfection and confidence affect on adolescents . How to instill it and help help them grow well . It seems like anxiety always gets in the way
I dont remember the number of times I have had comments that everything seems perfect but it is still insufficient, and that is how it becomes necessary to be more flexible. Is this part of the norms of our culture or problem of our brain?
our brain is shaped from day 0 to reflect cultural norms, so false dichotomy there
It is very relevant. Thank you for sharing. Interestingly, it is very unrealistic to create a make-believe that one can’t be strapped in one own illusion that perfection is in this world. So letting it be so to believe is a false belief and distortion thinking that won’t help in anyway in the treatment of depression. In following that, CBT is my best treatment for all-or-nothing thinking that cause the feeling of to not be good enough. There is enough research to support this fact.
How do I work with clients who struggle with perfectionism? I work with their awareness of their super-ego and show them how to train it. I call this Dragon Taming. Additionally I now also help them to build their Inner Support Committee which I have recently introduced as a result of one of your other NICABM posts. Im afraid I cant remember which of your marvellous contributors this came from but it’s been incredibly helpful!
OTC antihistamines freed me from perfectionism. Elevated histamine levels makes people obsessive and self-critical. Ask your clients if they frequently get songs stuck in their head to the point that it’s unpleasant for them. If they say yes, they have elevated histamine.
That’s very interesting, Clay. Can you direct me to a source to learn more about this? I’m always looking for connections between our life experience and our biochemistry.
I’m very interested too, to know the histamine connection.
High Evaluative Concern Perfectionism sounds like it could be related to social anxiety/phobias. Any studies on that?
The comments below point out a major issue for our field – the term ‘perfectionism’ is understood very differently by many people. Clients that fit the picture of perfectionism as it is used in psychology often don’t relate to this, and see ‘perfectionism’ as a helpful trait. I think the field needs to come up with a term that better describes that dynamic where people set unrealistically high standards, or standards that are only reachable with a lot of effort, relentlessly pursue these standards, berate themselves when they don’t meet them and see themselves as inadequate because they don’t meet them all the time. This is very different from a healthy pursuit of excellence.
I agree Angela. Well spotted.
It is also true that continuing to think in this direction can also help to accept oneself as perfectly human.
Right on Angela, well said, I will quote you in my next book;
Shelley Stockwell-Nicholas
Indeed and this is the trait that so often details perfectly capable and highly intelligent clients I work with.
Love the idea of creating an internal support committee Catherine and CBT Paige. I will look into that further.
That is an interesting observation.
I’m a perfectionist, and have no trouble being.
Right is important to me, it fails to bother me if it’s not to you, each to their own.
What comes to mind is the Personal Standard Perfectionism group displayed more empathy and internal concern for doing the test accurately and this is what we could praise a client for that mindfulness. That is what we want from the children, to think for themselves, not to be always aware of others judging them, a sense of personal pride perhaps. It is interesting that the cingulate part of the brain was what was in question as that often can show anger, I believe. I would like to know what they reported were the emotions that came up doing the test.
Is it just about pride then that is
Friends,
I am not a mister know it all; though with all my shots at the target in an attempt to hit the center, it might appear that way. I am sorry.
Here’s my next arrow: perfection comes with a full, bursting-forth heart; overflowing gratitude; peaceful acceptance and tolerance, and compassion full of grace.
Until something better comes along, that is all I know…
Being a personal standard type perfectionist, having a brain injury is nothing short of driving me beserk!
Well spoken. I’m in the same place. I haven’t found a therapist that understands. Adapting is hard.
Rolling Home written by Eric Anderson, 1967
Made popular by Peter, Paul and Mary’s album “1700.”
Truth, with all its far out schemes
Lets time decide what it should mean;
It’s not the time but just the dreams that die
And sometimes when the room is still
Time with so much truth to kill
Leaves you by the window sill so tied
Without a wing, to take you high
Without a clue to tell you why
Now, I just want to keep my name, not bother anybody’s game
Without ideas of gold or fame or insane heights
I don’t want a lot of money, I don’t want a Playboy Bunny
Just a love to call me honey late at night
In my arms, by my side, in my arms late at night
Chorus:
But I don’t know, I ain’t been told
Ev’rybody wants a hand to hold
They’re so afraid of being old
So scared of dying, so unknown
And so alone, rollin’ home
Well, I see the ones who crawl like moles
Who for a front would trade their souls
A broken mirror’s the only hole for them;
And for you who’d exchange yourselves
Just to be somebody else
Pretending things you never felt or meant;
Hey, you don’t live what you defend
You can’t give so you just bend
Now if you care what people think
Like they supplied some missing link;
They’ll just stand back and watch you sink so slow
They’ll never help you to decide
They’ll only take you for a ride
After which they’ll try and hide the fact that they don’t know
What you should do, where you should go
What you should do, where you should go
(Chorus)
There’s nothing big I want to prove
No mountains that I need to move
Or even claim what’s right or true for you
My sights, my songs are slightly charred
You might think they miss their mark
But things are only what they are and nothing new
But for me, I think they’ll do
But for me, I think they’ll do
Well, I can see a king and queen, a beggar falling at my feet;
They all must see the same sad dreams at night;
Futility and senseless war, pit the rich against the poor
While cause is buried long before the fight
For what was wrong, for what was right
It’s just the strong, who ever says what’s right
I don’t know what you are talking about. Perfectionism, like insight, appears when there are no inhibitions, when you don’t try so hard, when you let it be, have fun and are playful. Then it appears right before you. Oh, yes, there is one other thing: perfection appears with the truth. Live and speak the truth.