FILE: ARCH-NUM-005  /  STATUS: PUBLISHED

    THE NUMBERS / THE STACKS

    Perfectionism statistics, each one read in its source

    Pick a number, open its source, and check it yourself. Every number below links to the text it came from.

    LAST CHECKED: OCTOBER 10, 2026

    Every number here was read in its source on October 8, 2026, and links to it.

    Each number below was read at source. We opened each paper or page on October 8, 2026. A number stayed only if it was in that text.

    Counts are the source's own. We did not round, convert or combine them. The most repeated figure here is a change in a score, and the page says so.

    Over time

    1. 164

      Samples in the review that found perfectionism rising among college students from 1989 to 2016.

      Perfectionism is increasing over time: A meta-analysis of birth cohort differences from 1989 to 2016. Curran and Hill, 2019. Psychological Bulletin. Open the paper

    2. 41,641

      American, Canadian and British college students in those samples.

      Perfectionism is increasing over time: A meta-analysis of birth cohort differences from 1989 to 2016. Curran and Hill, 2019. Psychological Bulletin. Open the paper

    3. 33 percent

      Rise in the average socially prescribed perfectionism score between 1989 and 2016. A score, not a share of people.

      Perfectionism Among Young People Significantly Increased Since 1980s, Study Finds. American Psychological Association, via Newswise, 2018. Open the page

    4. 10 percent

      Rise in the average self-oriented score over the same years; the other-oriented score rose 16 percent.

      Perfectionism Among Young People Significantly Increased Since 1980s, Study Finds. American Psychological Association, via Newswise, 2018. Open the page

    5. 307

      Samples in the 2026 update, which found socially prescribed perfectionism speeding up from the early 2000s.

      Perfectionism is accelerating over time: A cross-temporal meta-analytic review of 35 years of college student data. Curran, Hill and Pose, 2026. Psychological Bulletin. Open the paper

    6. 82,939

      College students in that update, across the United States, Canada and Britain.

      Perfectionism is accelerating over time: A cross-temporal meta-analytic review of 35 years of college student data. Curran, Hill and Pose, 2026. Psychological Bulletin. Open the paper

    What goes with it

    1. 43

      Studies, with 9,838 people, in the review that linked worry about mistakes to burnout.

      Multidimensional Perfectionism and Burnout. Hill and Curran, 2016. Personality and Social Psychology Review. Open the paper

    2. r = .23

      Average link between worry about mistakes and putting things off, across 43 studies of 10 000 people.

      A Meta-Analytic and Conceptual Update on the Associations between Procrastination and Multidimensional Perfectionism. Sirois, Molnar and Hirsch, 2017. European Journal of Personality. Open the paper

    3. r = −.22

      Average link between high personal standards and putting things off, across 38 studies of 9544 people. High standards went with less delay.

      A Meta-Analytic and Conceptual Update on the Associations between Procrastination and Multidimensional Perfectionism. Sirois, Molnar and Hirsch, 2017. European Journal of Personality. Open the paper

    Numbers that get repeated

    • “Perfectionism has risen 33%”

      The 33 percent is a rise in an average score among college students, from 1989 to 2016. The score measures feeling that others demand perfection of you. It is not a share of young people who are perfectionists.

      Perfectionism Among Young People Significantly Increased Since 1980s, Study Finds. American Psychological Association, via Newswise, 2018. Open the page

    How we checked

    A runner opened each source on October 8, 2026, and saved what it read. A number appears here only if it sits in that saved text, word for word.

    The link beside each number opens the source, so you can check it yourself. Socially prescribed perfectionism means feeling that others demand perfection of you.

    The pattern behind it

    The work that is never quite ready has a file here. The Perfectionism Trap is the pattern of not finishing what is not perfect.

    The numbers above say that the scores have risen and what rises with them. They do not say why any one person holds the draft back.

    Catch is the first move. Catch means you feel the body signal and name the pattern before it becomes the behavior.

    The body signal is what you feel in your body as the pattern starts. It might be a tight jaw as the send button comes into view.

    The free Crash Course, short lessons on your pattern, starts by naming it.

    HOW TO CITE THIS PAGE

    The Archivist Method (2026). Perfectionism statistics, each one read in its source. The Numbers. https://thearchivistmethod.com/statistics/perfectionism-statistics