What if having everything was still not enough? Studies show that rates of perfectionism among young people have increased by nearly 33% over the past three decades, not because this generation is more ambitious, but because the world they grew up in has made ordinary life feel permanently insufficient (Curran & Hill, 2019).
Jad is eighteen years old. He lives in a comfortable home, has a loving family who supports him, close friends who care about him, and teachers who encourage his growth. He attends a good school and recently received a car as a graduation gift from his father. These are things many young people hope to have. Yet, despite having many sources of support and success in his life, Jad still feels that something is missing.
He scrolls through Instagram and sees a friend’s newer car, a classmate achieving higher grades, or someone celebrating another success. Instead of appreciating what he has, he focuses on what he lacks. His achievements, relationships, and possessions no longer feel meaningful because he constantly compares himself to others. Jad is not ungrateful; he is caught in a cycle of social comparison in which his sense of worth becomes tied to external achievements and validation. In this article, we will explore why perfectionism is increasing among Generation Z.
Three Faces of Perfectionism
To better understand why perfectionism is rising among Generation Z, it is important to distinguish between its three distinct forms. Psychologists Paul Hewitt and Gordon Flett (1991) identified three types of perfectionism in their foundational research:
- Self-Oriented Perfectionism: individuals set impossibly high standards for themselves and respond to any mistake with harsh self-criticism. For example, a student who believes they must get 100% on every exam. If they score 95%, they think, “I’m a failure. I should have done better,
- Other-Oriented Perfectionism: a person projects unrealistic expectations onto those around them, judging friends, family, and colleagues by standards they can rarely meet. For example, a person expects their friends or colleagues to always behave flawlessly and becomes frustrated or judgmental when they make ordinary human mistakes
- Socially Prescribed Perfectionism: the belief that the world, whether parents, teachers, or society, places great demands for flawlessness. Hewitt and Flett identified this as the most dangerous form, most strongly linked to anxiety, depression, and burnout. For example, an employee believes that their supervisor expects flawless performance at all times. As a result, they become overwhelmed by the fear of making even minor mistakes, increasing their risk of anxiety and burnout.
Social Media
Social media has transformed the way young people see themselves long before they were old enough to understand its impact. For Generation Z, platforms like Instagram and TikTok are not simply tools for connection. They have become measures of worth. Research shows that the number of likes a post receives directly influences how adolescents evaluate their own social status and self-worth (Sherman et al., 2016).
Young people curate their appearance, their moments, and their achievements to attract attention and validation from others. What makes this particularly damaging is what social media chooses not to show. Feeds are filled with the happiest moments, the most beautiful places, the most successful milestones never the doubt, the failure, or the ordinary Tuesday.
Studies indicate that exposure to idealised images on social media is strongly associated with increased perfectionism, anxiety, and reduced life satisfaction among adolescents (Vogel et al.,2014). For someone like Jad, this creates a deeply distorted picture of reality, one in which everyone else’s life appears effortless and full while his own feels insufficient, making gratitude increasingly difficult to sustain.
Academic and Family Pressure
Academic and family pressure are key drivers of perfectionism among Generation Z. When success is defined only by grades, or when children are compared to siblings or high-achieving peers, they may internalise the belief that their worth depends on performance. For example, a student who performs well throughout the year but does poorly in a final exam may still view themselves as a failure, while constant comparisons such as “Why can’t you be like your cousin?” reinforce this belief.
This mindset can continue into adulthood, affecting confidence and self-esteem in study and work settings. Research links high academic pressure and perfectionistic expectations to burnout, anxiety, and poor mental health in adolescents (Flett & Hewitt, 2002). In contrast, supportive families that emphasise effort and personal growth rather than comparison promote higher self-esteem and resilience (Curran & Hill, 2019)
The Toll of Mental Health
All of these factors- social media comparison, academic pressure, and socially prescribed perfectionism- carry a high cost on the mental health of young people. Research by Curran and Hill (2019) found that rising perfectionism among Generation Z is directly associated with increased rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. When validation comes exclusively from external sources, likes, grades, and others’ approval, young people fail to develop a stable internal sense of worth. This chronic dependence on outside sources leaves adolescents emotionally fragile and highly sensitive to criticism, rejection, or failure.
Studies also show that perfectionistic individuals demonstrate significantly lower levels of psychological resilience, making it harder to recover from setbacks and adapt to life’s inevitable challenges (Flett & Hewitt, 2002). Furthermore, the American Psychological Association (2023) reported that Generation Z is the most stressed generation on record, with anxiety and depression rates continuing to rise year after year. Without resilience, even minor difficulties can feel overwhelming.
Conclusion: Toward a Healthier Standard
What would it take for Jad to feel that who he is is enough finally? Research suggests that psychoeducational programs in schools and universities significantly reduce perfectionist thinking among adolescents by helping them develop more realistic and flexible standards of achievement (Flett & Hewitt, 2002). Studies also show that media literacy programs teaching young people to critically evaluate what they see online are effective in reducing social comparison and its negative effects on self-esteem (Vogel et al., 2014). For those who are struggling, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy has strong empirical support as an effective intervention for
Perfectionism helps individuals identify and challenge unrealistic beliefs about performance and failure (Egan et al., 2014). Curran and Hill (2019) emphasise that addressing perfectionism requires not only individual intervention but also broader cultural and institutional change. This change is needed in schools, families, and on social media platforms. It can help create environments where young people are valued for who they are, not only for what they achieve.
References +
- Curran, T., & Hill, A. P. (2019). Perfectionism is increasing over time: A meta-analysis of birth cohort differences from 1989 to 2016. Psychological Bulletin, 145(4), 410–429. Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.
- Egan, S. J., Wade, T. D., & Shafran, R. (2014). Perfectionism as a transdiagnostic process. Clinical Psychology Review, 31(2), 203– 212.
- Flett, G. L., & Hewitt, P. L. (2002). Perfectionism: Theory, research, and treatment. American Psychological Association
- Hewitt, P. L., & Flett, G. L. (1991). Perfectionism in the self and social contexts: Conceptualisation, assessment, and association with psychopathology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60(3), 456–470.
- Sherman, L. E., Payton, A. A., Hernandez, L. M., Greenfield, P. M., & Dapretto, M. (2016). The power of the like in adolescence. Psychological Science, 27(7), 1027–1035.
- American Psychological Association. (2023). Stress in America: Gen Z and mental health. APA Vogel, E. A., Rose, J. P., Roberts, L. R., & Eckles, K. (2014). Social comparison, social media, and self-evaluation. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 3(4), 206–222.
