Why Is Perfectionism on the Rise Among Young People?

Yes, not just young people.

I've held on to mine.

You blame it in part, I think, on neoliberalism because the state essentially doesn't want to look after us, so we have to, and we're on our guard.

That kind of analysis?

Yeah, I mean, I work at the School of Economics and a lot of our sociology is very much oriented towards looking at what's going on in the material world outside of the individual, particularly when it comes to explaining broad trends like this.

So economics certainly has a role to play.

moving from a world that was fairly egalitarian in the 50s, 60s and 70s to one that's very much hyper individualized today.

And that's had many implications, but one of which is that we tend to introspect on ourselves.

There's a kind of narcissistic self-reference that seems to be on the rise.

And that isn't narcissism in the sense of grandiosity or entitlement.

It's more a sense of wanting to appear perfect to other people.

And that's amplified, of course, through social media and analog media and images of movies and TV shows where perfection is really the standard.

So there are a lot of factors going on here.

But if you really want to get to the root and nub of it, we think that they track very closely with economic changes that started around the late 70s.

Yes, understood.

And I'm glad you fleshed out that definition of the word narcissist, because I think many people labor under a misapprehension of what it really means.

And they think, oh, I'm not a narcissist.

But of course, you've just slightly redefined it.

Yeah, absolutely.

Narcissist gets a bit of a bad rap for good reason.

There are many narcissists in the world today, some very high profile, who can do extraordinary damage.

But there is also a more vulnerable form of narcissism, which is more closely related to perfectionism, which It doesn't carry that grandiosity, but certainly carries the same need to appear perfect and project a perfect image, which comes from a sense of insecurity and lack rather than a sense of needing to feel the measure of all things.

Understood.

And it's no good for us, perfectionism.

But of course, we think it is.

Yes, not just young people.

I've held on to mine.

You blame it in part, I think, on neoliberalism because the state essentially doesn't want to look after us, so we have to, and we're on our guard.

That kind of analysis?

Yeah, I mean, I work at the School of Economics and a lot of our sociology is very much oriented towards looking at what's going on in the material world outside of the individual, particularly when it comes to explaining broad trends like this.

So economics certainly has a role to play.

moving from a world that was fairly egalitarian in the 50s, 60s and 70s to one that's very much hyper individualized today.

And that's had many implications, but one of which is that we tend to introspect on ourselves.

There's a kind of narcissistic self-reference that seems to be on the rise.

And that isn't narcissism in the sense of grandiosity or entitlement.

It's more a sense of wanting to appear perfect to other people.

And that's amplified, of course, through social media and analog media and images of movies and TV shows where perfection is really the standard.

So there are a lot of factors going on here.

But if you really want to get to the root and nub of it, we think that they track very closely with economic changes that started around the late 70s.

Yes, understood.

And I'm glad you fleshed out that definition of the word narcissist, because I think many people labor under a misapprehension of what it really means.

And they think, oh, I'm not a narcissist.

But of course, you've just slightly redefined it.

Yeah, absolutely.

Narcissist gets a bit of a bad rap for good reason.

There are many narcissists in the world today, some very high profile, who can do extraordinary damage.

But there is also a more vulnerable form of narcissism, which is more closely related to perfectionism, which It doesn't carry that grandiosity, but certainly carries the same need to appear perfect and project a perfect image, which comes from a sense of insecurity and lack rather than a sense of needing to feel the measure of all things.

Understood.

And it's no good for us, perfectionism.

But of course, we think it is.