Enemies of the good
“In a 2003 study a team led by psychologist Peter J. Bieling of McMaster University in Ontario evaluated 198 students for perfectionism and then asked them what grade they wanted to get on an upcoming midterm. The perfectionists aimed for higher grades than nonperfectionists did, but on average, the two types of students performed the same on the test; the perfectionists were thus more likely to fall short of their ambitions. And rather than adjusting their expectations to reality, perfectionists who did not get the grades they wanted insisted on keeping or even raising the bar for the next exam.”
