It’s 2018 and Millennials are still confounding everyone, including themselves.

A recent paper, published by the American Psychological Association, has suggested that the thing that makes Millennials different comes down to levels of perfection.

It appears when we were born a slice of Virgo was attached to each one of us: the study suggests that Millennials have “an irrational desire to achieve along with being overly critical of oneself and others,” reports Science Daily.

This includes a drive to have the perfect body, mind, career, life and alles.

Lead author Thomas Curran, PhD, of the University of Bath and co-author Andrew Hill, PhD, of York St John University, analysed data from “41 641 American, Canadian and British college students from 164 samples who completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, a test for generational changes in perfectionism, from the late 1980s to 2016”:

They measured three types of perfectionism: self-oriented, or an irrational desire to be perfect; socially prescribed, or perceiving excessive expectations from others; and other-oriented, or placing unrealistic standards on others.

It’s the first study of its kind to focus on group generational differences in perfectionism.

So what did they find? Well, that the rise in perfectionism is being driven by a few factors, the main one being social media. Others include the drive to earn money and pressure to get a good education.

While it’s not necessarily a negative thing, it is taking a toll on Millennial’s mental health:

In another example, Curran cited college students’ drive to perfect their grade point averages and compare them to their peers. These examples, according to Curran, represent a rise in meritocracy among millennials, in which universities encourage competition among students to move up the social and economic ladder.

“Meritocracy places a strong need for young people to strive, perform and achieve in modern life,” said Curran. “Young people are responding by reporting increasingly unrealistic educational and professional expectations for themselves. As a result, perfectionism is rising among millennials.”

The increase in perfectionism may in part be affecting the psychological health of students, said Hill, citing higher levels of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts than a decade ago.

Shall this be the year of preserving your mental health? Why not. It’s never too late to jump on the meditation bandwagon.

[source:sciencedaily]