“Perfectionism does not necessarily result in higher levels of performance and may even backfire,” says Gordon Flett, a psychology professor in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Health and Canada Research Chair in Personality��& Health.��“Students can be vulnerable to negative automatic thought patterns, which can lead to psychological distress and performance avoidance.”��

Gordon Flett

Flett, lead author of “Procrastination Automatic Thoughts as a Personality Construct: An Analysis of the Procrastinatory Cognitions Inventory”, a new article soon to be published in the Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, found related patterns of negative ruminations among procrastinators focused on perfectionism, fear of failure and guilt. These negative thought patterns ��contributed to an increased stress level in students and delay in accomplishing tasks, findings that are similar to a previous study by the same research team showing that perfectionistic professors produce fewer published articles.��

Recent surveys show that between 50 and 60 percent of responding students rated themselves as perfectionists, and 45 per cent indicated a problem with chronic procrastination.

So how can students move past the negativity and become high achievers? Flett offers��tips for starting the school year off right:��

Aim for excellence, not perfection
“The goals should be striving for excellence rather than striving for perfectionism,” says Flett.�� “This means that students should work strenuously – but not obsessively – in order to achieve their goals. The goals should focus on excellence and doing well rather than being flawless. The focus should be on learning effective and adaptive ways to learn new material and developing good study skills.”��

Don’t get bogged down with external expectations
“Some students suffer jointly from procrastination and perfectionism. Fear of failure is one personality style that links these. It is important here to be not too concerned with what other people think.”��

Learn to muzzle that negative inner voice
“Students are especially prone to stress if they ruminate and think continuously about the need to be perfect. Our work shows that students ruminate about their procrastination and have such thoughts as ‘Why didn’t I start earlier?’ and ‘Next time will be different.’�� Students can learn to control these thoughts and should do so since these thoughts are linked with depression, anxiety, lack of conscientiousness and avoidance.”����

Get help if you need it
“Perhaps the biggest problem is that perfectionistic procrastinators do not seek help, whether it is for assistance with their learning style or for their psychological issues. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness and is not something to be ashamed of. In fact, it is the smart thing to do.”

For more University news, photos and videos, visit the homepage.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Perfectionism is sometimes viewed as a positive personality trait to be rewarded or reinforced, but Dalhousie University psychology professor Simon Sherry believes it is mostly a self-defeating behaviour, wrote :

In professors, the effect can be particularly pernicious: in a new study, Sherry and colleagues found that perfectionism leads to lower research productivity. The findings suggest that professors who display a higher level of perfectionism are less likely to produce publications, garner citations or publish their research in high-impact journals.

“We found that perfectionism trips up professors on the way to research productivity. The more perfectionistic the professor, the less productive they are,” said Dr. Sherry. This could “seriously and adversely impact” their career development. The study was published in the .

. . .

To investigate the issue, he and colleagues of 91��ɫ’s and Paul Hewitt of the University of British Columbia studied the link between perfectionism and research productivity among psychology professors working at universities in the US and Canada. They limited it to their own profession to simplify the logistics and restricted it to universities with graduate programs in psychology.

They contacted 10,000 professors, of whom 1,258 responded using an online survey. The researchers found a “robust correlation” between increased perfectionism and decreased research productivity in the respondents. A higher level of perfectionism was associated with a lower number of total publications and a lower number of first-authored publications. It was also associated with a lower number of citations and a track record of publishing in journals with a lower impact rating.

. . .

If professors suspect they’re perfectionists, Dr. Sherry counsels that they seek professional help. The best treatment options appear to be interpersonal or cognitive behavioural therapy, he added.

Ironically, “perfectionists are often very reluctant to seek help because they see it as tantamount to being imperfect,” he said. As well, perfectionism itself can be a barrier to effective treatment; afflicted individuals might subconsciously sabotage their course of treatment because of unrealistic expectations.

Perfectionist profs have another reason to worry: research has linked perfectionism with depression, suicide and various forms of eating disorders such as bulimia, binge eating and��anorexia.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Tier 1 CRCs were renewed for professors ,�� and . Professor was awarded an Advancement Chair, taking her from a Tier 2 to a Tier 1 CRC. Each Tier 1 CRC attracts $200,000 annually in federal funding, over a seven-year period, for a total of $1.4 million per chair.

The funding will allow Flett, Hessels, Tsotsos��and Vosko to continue their respective research in personality and health, computational vision, atomic physics, and the political economy of gender and work.

“Federal government investment in research is crucial for Canadian universities because we are competing with the rest of the world to attract top researchers,” said Stan Shapson, vice-president research & innovation at 91��ɫ. “Through these investments, researchers at 91��ɫ are able to contribute significantly to new discoveries, public policy and economic development, and national and international dialogue across the full range of disciplines.”

91��ɫ’s renewals were part of $275.6 million announced by��Tony Clement, federal minister of Industry,��to fund 310 new or renewed CRCs at 53 Canadian universities. “The Harper government is continuing its longstanding commitment to invest in science and technology to create jobs, strengthen the economy and improve the quality of life of Canadians,” said Clement. “For the past 10 years, the Canada Research Chairs Program has brought breakthroughs in clean energy, the control of infectious disease, business management, and digital technologies.This funding will help strengthen Canada’s capacity for leading-edge research while, at the same time, building economic opportunities for Canadians.”

Clement made the announcement at the start of a conference to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the CRC program. The conference, which began yesterday at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, continues today.��Vosko took part in the “Thinking Ahead: A look at what the future holds for Canada” panel discussion on Wednesday. 91��ɫ Professor (right), Canada Research Chair in Art, Digital Media��& Globalization, will participate in today's��Art, Technology and Society panel.

91��ɫ has 28 research chairs, including the four renewals announced yesterday.��Here are details on the work of the four:

Gordon Flett (left), CRC in Personality and Health (Tier 1), examines personality as the key to many health problems stemming from chronic stress exposure. Certain aspects of the personality trait of perfectionism can be particularly harmful. His team studies risk and resilience factors across the lifespan. He and Paul Hewitt co-developed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, a model reconstruction of both the personal and interpersonal components of perfectionism. Research based on the model has firmly established that perfectionism has personal and interpersonal components and is associated with various forms of maladjustment, including health problems, depression, anxiety and suicidal tendencies. His research agenda also explores the relationship between perfectionism and psychological disorders, including eating disorders, postpartum depression and recovery from physical illnesses. A professor of psychology, Flett is associate dean, research and graduate education, in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Health.

Eric Hessels (right), CRC in Atomic Physics (Tier 1), is researching the difference between matter and antimatter. His 91��ɫ team is working with researchers from Harvard University on a method to trap the antiatoms long enough to conduct experiments. This work is being done in conjunction with the international ATRAP (Antihydrogen Trap) collaboration. Hessels’ research also involves measuring the energies and orbits of helium atoms to provide the most accurate measurement of the “fine structure constant,” which determines the strength of electric and magnetic forces between charged objects. He is a Distinguished Research Professor of Physics at 91��ɫ.

John Tsotsos (left), CRC in Computational Vision (Tier 1), integrates the fields of visual psychology, computer vision, robotics and visual neuroscience to investigate new models of human visual mechanisms and how they may lead to intelligent seeing machines. His research falls into three main themes: visual attention in humans and computer systems, visually guided mobile robotics, and computer vision. He designed the first computerized motion recognition system, used in cardiology, and developed the Selective Tuning Model for visual attention, widely considered the leading model for consolidating current understanding of the process of visual attention. He has also designed an intelligent, visually guided wheelchair intended for physically disabled children. A past director of 91��ɫ’s internationally recognized , Tsotsos is the Distinguished Research Professor of Vision Science in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at 91��ɫ.

Leah F. Vosko (right), CRC in the Political Economy of Gender and Work, examines the contours of precarious employment to foster new statistical, legal, political and economic understandings of this phenomenon. Two of the chair’s principal projects involve constructing a research database on gender, work and labour market insecurity in Canada in comparative perspective — the — and overseeing a research alliance comprised of community and university researchers studying employment standards modernization in Canada and internationally. A professor of political science and a co-director of 91��ɫ’s Centre for Research on Work and Society, Vosko also teaches and supervises students in women’s studies, sociology, public policy administration and law, socio-legal studies, social and political thought, health equity, and communications & culture.��Her most recent book, Managing the Margins: Gender, Citizenship and the International Regulation of Precarious Employment, was published earlier this year by Oxford University Press, UK.

By Janice Walls, media relations officer. Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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