Future College Athlete and The Rise Of Perfectionism: Future Trend 1—Unhealthy Perfectionism
By Michael Cerreto
Perfectionism is on the rise. If the trend continues for the next ten years, it may profoundly impact the personalities and mental health of athletes who enter college in the 2030s. The following is the first of a seven-part series about how the rise of perfectionism can impact future college athletes. Let’s look at Future Trend 1.
“Perfectionism is not a quest for the best. It is a pursuit of the worst in ourselves, the part that tells us that nothing we do will ever be good enough – that we should try again.”
Future Trend 1: College Athletes’ Unhealthy Perfectionism Will Grow
Being a perfectionist can be both good and bad. When people have high standards and work hard, it is called adaptive perfectionism, which is good. However, when it leads to fear of failure and harsh self-criticism, it becomes maladaptive perfectionism, which is terrible news. Athletes who are too obsessed with being perfect experience adverse, maladaptive mental health outcomes, such as anxiety, self-criticism, and depression (Simmons & Ross-Nash, 2022).
Hill & Caran (2018) found that perfectionism increased up to 33% from 1989 to 2016. Sun and Tai (2022) found that if perfectionism keeps growing, it will change the personalities of college athletes and make them more prone to maladaptive perfectionism, which causes anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions.
While it's commendable for athletes to uphold high standards and work diligently, perfectionism's detrimental and growing effects on their mental health cannot be overlooked. College athletics departments can take proactive measures to support athletes' mental well-being, foster a healthier environment, and promote overall student-athlete success in the face of growing perfectionism.
References
Simmons, A., & Ross-Nash, Z. (2022, May). Athletes, perfectionism, and suicide. [Web article]. Retrieved from https://societyforpsychotherapy.org/athletes-perfectionism-and-suicide/
Hill, A. P., & Curran, T. (2018, January 26). Perfectionism Is Increasing, and That's Not Good News. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2018/01/perfectionism-is-increasing-and-thats-not-good-news
Sun, K., & Tai, J. (2022). The relationship between perfectionism and sports ethics among young athletes based on achievement goal theory. Frontiers in Psychology, 13(7), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.771332
