Psychology Assignment 3
Alyssa Tilburg
Introduction to Psychology
Assignment Three
February 20, 2014 Out of all of the periodicals suggested I chose Psychology Today. This particular periodical seems to have been written for people who show an interest in the understanding of several varying human behaviors and also for people who are interested in changing these behaviors to a certain extent. I chose the article, “The Making of a Perfectionist,” by Hara Estroff Marano. This article caught my eye only because more often than not, I catch myself attempting to be a perfectionist although I may not always want to be one. This article, including the title pages, is eight pages long. Interestingly, throughout all eight pages of this article there are no heads. This article was not based on a research study per say, but it simply provides you, as a perfectionist, ways to cope with your perfectionism. It describes a perfectionist as only being a “slave to success.” The hypothesis given in this article is that perfectionism is essentially a crime against humanity. Unfortunately, no conducted study was included in this article however, it does discuss particular conclusion which were made about how someone may become a perfectionist. A man by the name of Luc Goossens, a developmental psychologist and his colleagues, have determined that a perfectionist can be the result of particular parenting skills applied throughout a child’s first eighteen years of life. Gossens states that there are two sources of psychological control when dealing with a child. The first happens to be the parents’ own perfectionism. This is when parents make it apparent to their children that they will only be accepted when high standards are met. This alone can cause anxiety in a child. The second source of psychological control is parents’ separation anxiety. It has been determined that a child more likely than not will become a perfectionist when parents guilt-trip them often times while growing up. To further explain
Introduction to Psychology
Assignment Three
February 20, 2014 Out of all of the periodicals suggested I chose Psychology Today. This particular periodical seems to have been written for people who show an interest in the understanding of several varying human behaviors and also for people who are interested in changing these behaviors to a certain extent. I chose the article, “The Making of a Perfectionist,” by Hara Estroff Marano. This article caught my eye only because more often than not, I catch myself attempting to be a perfectionist although I may not always want to be one. This article, including the title pages, is eight pages long. Interestingly, throughout all eight pages of this article there are no heads. This article was not based on a research study per say, but it simply provides you, as a perfectionist, ways to cope with your perfectionism. It describes a perfectionist as only being a “slave to success.” The hypothesis given in this article is that perfectionism is essentially a crime against humanity. Unfortunately, no conducted study was included in this article however, it does discuss particular conclusion which were made about how someone may become a perfectionist. A man by the name of Luc Goossens, a developmental psychologist and his colleagues, have determined that a perfectionist can be the result of particular parenting skills applied throughout a child’s first eighteen years of life. Gossens states that there are two sources of psychological control when dealing with a child. The first happens to be the parents’ own perfectionism. This is when parents make it apparent to their children that they will only be accepted when high standards are met. This alone can cause anxiety in a child. The second source of psychological control is parents’ separation anxiety. It has been determined that a child more likely than not will become a perfectionist when parents guilt-trip them often times while growing up. To further explain