Thomas Curran: Our dangerous obsession with perfectionism is getting worse
托马斯·柯伦: 我们对完美主义的危险痴迷越来越严重
Thomas Curran studies the personality characteristic of perfectionism, how it develops and its impact on mental health. Full bio
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have you heard that one?
or perhaps with family at Thanksgiving.
也许是和家人一起过感恩节时。
最后一个,也是最难的问题,
at job interviews:
that supposedly holds us back,
非常乐意举起手
are quite happy to hold our hands up
and serious point
for perfection is so pervasive
质疑这个观点本身。
that concept in its own terms.
of celebration in perfection?
as an insignia of worth.
完美主义者会更加成功。
that perfectionists are more successful.
that they're never quite perfect enough.
a host of psychological difficulties,
anxiety, anorexia, bulimia
is that over the last 25 years,
以惊人的速度上升。
at an alarming rate.
精神疾病病例比以往任何时候都多。
among young people than ever before.
across the last two decades.
emerge across Canada,
the United Kingdom.
现象也层出不穷。
as society is changing.
a changed sense of personal identity
之间,以及他们与周围环境
in which young people interact
about our preeminent, market-based society
社会有一些独特的特征,
like unrestricted choice
that we feel are contributing
with the attainment of the perfect life
追求完美的生活
和财富方面的影响力。
status and wealth.
to report being materially rich
and their grandparents.
than did older generations,
of their income on image goods
their lives and their lifestyles
无处不在的Instagram
on the ubiquitous social media platforms
is far more important than the reality.
furnished for young people
a perfectible life
没有什么是遥不可及的。
for those who want it badly enough.
of the American dream.
the self-made person, hard work.
that we're captains of our own destiny.
our wealth, our status
personal value.
个人价值联系起来。
equality of opportunity,
of our own destiny
一个更为黑暗的事实,
reality for young people
ongoing economic tribunal.
几乎正在进行的经济评判。
for which merit can be quantified
into schools, classes and colleges.
is so publicly played out
and performance.
big city high schools
and the end of 12th grade.
a strong need to strive,
at the center of modern life.
to define themselves
of grades, percentiles and lead tables.
on their insecurities.
不安全感为食的社会。
how they are performing
to other people.
their imperfections.
更完美的需要,否则,
more perfectly next time, or else,
is especially pervasive --
上的意见领袖一样多,
as that Instagram influencer,
这些活生生的影响。
of perfectionism firsthand.
in my mind very vividly.
he was exceptionally high-achieving,
grades for his work.
成就视为可悲的失败,
his successes as abject failures,
令自己和他人失望的。
how he'd let himself and others down.
than other people
his unrelenting work ethic,
what he saw as his inner weakness
to the harmfulness of perfectionism
完善事物或完成任务。
perfecting things or perfecting tasks.
is about perfecting the self.
perfecting an imperfect self.
是完善不完美的自己。
like a mountain of achievement
to imagine ourselves scaling.
"Once I've reached that summit,
完美的,我是有价值的。”
and I'll be worth something."
lowlands of insecurity and shame,
不安全与耻辱的新低地,
a perfectionist just cannot step off.
完美主义者就是走不出来。
to a host of psychological problems,
a good way to measure it.
保罗·休伊特和戈登·弗雷特,
Paul Hewitt and Gordon Flett,
a self-report measure of perfectionism.
完美主义评估方法。
是可以评估的,
you can measure this,
three core elements of perfectionism.
完美主义的三个核心要素。
prescribed perfectionism,
is excessively demanding:
are too demanding of me."
other-oriented perfectionism,
standards on other people:
我期待结果是完美的。”
I expect it to be done perfectly."
three elements of perfectionism
like heightened depression,
完美主义最成问题的要素
element of perfectionism
expects me to be perfect.
with serious mental illness.
at the forefront of my mind,
要素是否在改变。
elements of perfectionism were changing.
主要集中在直系亲属关系方面,
is focused on immediate family relations,
at a broader level.
that had ever been collected
27年里的所有数据,
developed that perfectionism measure,
in college students.
more than 40,000 young people
and British colleges,
我们开始观察是否存在趋势。
we looked to see if there was a trend.
more than three years
crunch the numbers,
揭开了一些让人警醒的事情。
uncovered something alarming.
have increased over time.
都在随着时间增长。
saw the largest increase, and by far.
完美主义增长最快。
report clinically relevant levels
typically see in clinical populations.
had doubled to 18 percent.
based on the models that we tested
in three young people
社会定向型完美主义。
of socially prescribed perfectionism.
of perfectionism
with serious mental illness,
感到一种无休止的
feel a unrelenting need
yesterday's expectation of perfection,
昨天对完美的期望,
to an even higher degree
that the better they do,
of helplessness and, worse, hopelessness.
甚至更糟糕,绝望感。
也应该坚持特定的事情——
hold on to certain things --
conscientious and hardworking.
when things don't go well,
个人平静和成功。
into greater personal peace and success.
we can do as caregivers.
in our formative years,
形成阶段形成的,
when they've tried but failed.
their understandable urge
to helicopter-parent,
望子成龙的直升机父母,
会给孩子带来很多焦虑。
successes and failures as their own.
raises important questions
on competition, evaluation and testing
评估和测试是否有利于年轻人
for public figures to say
a little bit more resilience
and unprecedented pressures.
washing our hands of the core issue
我们在逃避核心问题,
不需要感觉必须那么完美的
in which young people need less perfection
is an enormous challenge,
in the 24/7 spotlight
to other people.
from that mountaintop,
只得努力再次攀登那个高峰。
but to try scaling that peak again.
up and down the same mountain
was a man called Sisyphus,
一个叫西西弗斯的人,
the same boulder up a hill,
并不得不重新再来。
and have to start again.
这种无望的追求完美
or meaningful in their lives
future generations
fundamentally inhuman
escape the trap of perfectionism,
逃出完美主义的陷阱,
在这个混乱的世界中,
that in a chaotic world,
outgrow this self-defeating snare
摆脱这种不可能完美的
that has outgrown that very same delusion.
同样幻想的社会中抚养他们。
享受精神上,情感上
to enjoy mental, emotional
to celebrate the joys
正常而自然的一部分。
of everyday living and loving.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Thomas Curran - Social and personality psychologistThomas Curran studies the personality characteristic of perfectionism, how it develops and its impact on mental health.
Why you should listen
Social and personality psychologist Thomas Curran is a member of the Centre for Motivation and Health Behavior Change in Bath, UK; the Motivation, Personality, and Well-being research group in York, UK; and is currently an assistant professor in the Department for Health at the University of Bath. His research rose to prominence following a 2017 publication of the first systems-level cohort study to show that perfectionism is on the rise in American, Canadian and British college students. Since then, he has written and spoken extensively on how we have created societies perfectly calibrated to promote perfectionism, which is contributing to almost epidemic levels of serious mental illness among young people. Curran is the author of over 30 published papers and has received numerous awards for his scholarship and research.
Thomas Curran | Speaker | TED.com