Dr Thomas Curran spoke to the BBC's Katty Kay about the acute rise of perfectionism in the young and why social media and screens are not the only things to blame.
According to Prof Curran, social inequality has played a huge part in driving our fear of falling short. The data he's gathered shows that tech might amplify the anxiety of those prone to perfectionism, but worsening career prospects and the decimation of the middle class are what track with the rise of our growing expectations of ourselves and of each other.
Curran argues that perfectionism is not as productive as it seems and again, his research has shown that it does not drive better performance and is actually counterproductive.
You can watch the full interview here.