Rising perfectionism among college students linked to worsening mental health

A comprehensive meta-analysis of 307 studies involving more than 82,000 American, Canadian and British college students shows that perfectionism has been climbing steadily since 1989. The surge is especially pronounced for perfectionistic concerns—fear of failure, indecisiveness and worry about negative judgment—while perfectionistic strivings, the drive to set high goals, have risen more modestly. The researchers link these patterns to macro-economic factors, noting that slower GDP per-capita growth is associated with higher strivings, whereas rising inequality fuels sharper increases in concerns.

Lead author Thomas Curran argues that limited economic opportunity pushes young people to over-compensate with achievement, while growing inequality amplifies fear of mistakes. Across the period, higher perfectionism scores remain strongly tied to elevated reports of depression and anxiety, indicating a stable mental-health risk. The authors warn that the expanding prevalence of perfectionism could exacerbate the youth mental-health crisis.