Students facing pressure to be perfect report poorer well-being – study

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MANILA, Philippines — Filipino university students who believe others expect them to be perfect are more vulnerable to poorer well-being and unhealthy ways of coping with stress, according to a new study led by researchers from the University of the Philippines Diliman.

The study found that socially prescribed perfectionism, or SPP — the belief that parents, teachers, peers and others expect someone to be flawless — was consistently linked to poorer psychological outcomes among Filipino students. The findings highlight SPP as an aggravating factor in the Philippine context.

The findings came from a peer-reviewed study published in the international journal Anxiety, Stress, & Coping by Jeryl Shawn T. Tan of York St John University and the UP Diliman Department of Psychology, Andrew P. Hill of York St John University and the University of Toronto, and Daniel J. Madigan of York St John University.

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