Research shows that women are more concerned than men about
making mistakes, failing, letting others down, and otherwise appear
anything less than perfect.
MONTREAL, Canada, Dec. 3, 2022
/PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Steve
Jobs had it. Martha Stewart
has it. So do many athletes and workaholics…an obsession with being
perfect. Extreme perfectionists are not just pedantic or doggedly
determined to do their best, they are absolutely terrified of being
seen as a failure, as incompetent, or flawed. They are unreasonably
concerned about making mistakes, which in turn compels them to
spend an inordinate amount of time and effort on perfecting
something that just never seems to come out right. While both men
and women adopt these unhealthy tendencies, women have a higher
propensity to become obsessive perfectionists.
Analyzing data collected from 1,410 people who took the
Perfectionism Test, PsychTests' researchers looked at the degree to
which men and women demand too much of themselves, set the bar too
high, or create unrealistic expectations. Here's what their study
revealed:
AREAS WHERE WOMEN ARE MORE PERFECTIONISTIC THAN MEN
> 47% of women and 38% of men believe that failing a task or
project makes them a failure as a person.
> 43% of women and 39% of men are only proud of their work or
achievements if they receive praise from their manager.
> 63% of women and 58% of men frequently worry about making
mistakes.
> 38% of women and 34% of men worry that they will be labeled as
a bad parent if their child does not excel at school.
> 55% of women and 49% of men have trouble saying "no" when
family members make requests of them, for fear of letting people
down.
> 48% of women and 42% of men believe that they need to be in
perfect physical shape in order to be considered attractive.
> 64% of women and 51% of men often worry about what other
people think.
AREAS WHERE MEN ARE MORE PERFECTIONISTIC THAN WOMEN
> 38% of men and 34% of women believe that being perfect for
their romantic partner is the only way to avoid being dumped.
> 27% of men and 20% of women believe that they only way to gain
respect from others is to be wealthy.
> 24% of men and 21% of women refuse to talk about their faults
because they're afraid that others will look down on them.
AREAS WHERE WOMEN AND MEN ARE EQUALLY PERFECTIONISTIC:
> 57% of women and men said that they hate the idea of being
considered "average" in anything.
> 66% of women and men believe that they must excel at anything
they take on.
"Many people struggle to understand that there is a fine line
between pushing yourself to do your best and trying to be perfect.
The former requires a person to put in 100% effort; the latter
requires the person to be flawless and leaves absolutely no room
for error. It's just not the same thing. You can do something very
well, but you can never achieve absolute perfection," explains Dr.
Ilona Jerabek, president of
PsychTests. "Perfectionists want to excel at everything they do,
and when they don't they end up chastising and even hating
themselves. It's the Sisyphus effect: no matter how hard they try
to attain their lofty objectives, they rarely, if ever, succeed
100%. Perfection just doesn't exist. Yet, many people, especially
women, will still push themselves to try to achieve it."
"Fear is always at the root of perfectionism - the fear of
rejection, of being ridiculed, or of being judged as not good
enough. This often stems from excessive expectations set by
parents, teachers, or important figures in one's childhood.
Perfectionists grow up craving the approval they seldom, if ever,
received when they were young, even if they had many achievements.
So, they chase this perfect ideal, push themselves to achieve more
and more, but are never satisfied with what they accomplish. So,
our advice to you is: 'Treat failures and errors as lessons
learned. Strive for excellence, not perfection!"
Are you excessively perfectionistic? Check out the Perfectionism
Test at https://testyourself.psychtests.com/testid/3052
Professional users, such as HR managers, coaches, and
therapists, can request a free demo for this or other assessments
from ARCH Profile's extensive battery:
http://hrtests.archprofile.com/testdrive_gen_1
To learn more about psychological testing, download this free
eBook: http://hrtests.archprofile.com/personality-tests-in-hr
About PsychTests AIM Inc.
PsychTests AIM Inc. originally appeared on the internet scene in
1996. Since its inception, it has become a pre-eminent provider of
psychological assessment products and services to human resource
personnel, therapists and coaches, academics, researchers, and a
host of other professionals around the world. PsychTests AIM Inc.
staff is comprised of a dedicated team of psychologists, test
developers, researchers, statisticians, writers, and artificial
intelligence experts (see ARCHProfile.com).
Media Contact
Ilona Jerabek, PsychTests AIM
Inc., 5147453189, ilona@psychtests.com
SOURCE PsychTests AIM Inc.