High academic achievement is valued in all societies globally. High achievers are revered and respected individuals in any society. Consequently, students are expected to strive for high grades and perform spectacularly as professionals thereafter by their educators, parents, and society upon completing their studies successfully. However, the expectations of high academic performance and sterling professional performance are individual and societal tendencies towards perfectionism, a concept that is increasingly receiving research attention nowadays. It is widely acknowledged that perfectionism is a psychological trait or tendency in which one strives for or is expected to be flawless in all one’s undertakings. Although flawlessness is a high-order psychological goal, the real attainment of perfectness is untenable, considering that humankind is fallible by their fundamental human nature. Therefore, while many people may strive for perfection is many spheres of life, attaining it is another issue altogether. Nonetheless, people strive for perfection relentlessly even when they realize that they may not attain it in their lifetimes. They expect that near-perfect performance will be held in high regard by peers, institutions, and society. More so, in meritorious societies, near perfect individuals are accorded more life opportunities than low achievers.

Academic achievement is fraught with perfectionism. Many individuals set high educational achievement standards and work hard towards attaining perfect scores in examinations. Similarly, many societies set high academic achievement standards for their members to foster their competitive edge and help them outcompete their peers so that they standout. Similarly, many parents set high academic standards for their children to give them a good start in life, with the hope that high educational performance would lead to a successful life later. However, while the strife to survive adversities in life is closely associated with high educational achievement, its outcomes may be mixed. In other words, the strife for perfectness has positive and negative outcomes, some of which those that encourage perfectionism may be unaware. Parents are a significant influence on their children’s academic achievement. Most parents set high academic standards for children and implore them to work hard to achieve them regardless of their children’s academic capabilities. Parents do so believing that high grades open up numerous opportunities for a successful life and wish that their children realize such life successes from their high academic achievement. Many parents belief that these opportunities should be distributed meritoriously and that their children can merit such opportunities and the rewards they present from their exemplary academic performance and achievement. However, like perfectionism, meritocracy is culturally constructed and influenced. Meritocracy justifies societal inequalities with some individuals being more deserving of rewards that others, based on merit. Academic achievement is one measure of merit. Those that perform exemplary well in their academics are deemed to be more deserving of the rewards that ensue, while low achievers are less deserving. However, it is not clear how meritocracy beliefs influence perfectionism in different cultures. Similarly, it is not clear how meritocracy beliefs held by parents influence the academic achievement of their children, particularly in higher education settings. Nonetheless, these ambiguities can be addressed by further research, which motivates this study.

1.2 Significance and justification of the Study

Perfectionism is a complex concept that is increasingly being studied today. New knowledge is emerging to expand the extant understanding of the concept, particularly in its definitions, dimensions, effects on wellbeing, and advantages and limitations. Perfectionism has various definitions, which are culturally influenced. In other words, different cultures view perfectionism differently, and therefore, set different perfectness standards for its members and recognize perfectionism differently as well. It is already established that perfectionism is associated with extremely high standards that drive the efforts of individuals in diverse spheres of life, including education. In addition, there is growing evidence that perfectionism has psychological effects on individuals, some of which are positive while others are negative.

Perfectionism has attracted intensive research attention in the last three decades with focus being on its nature and impact. Studies have also gathered considerable evidence related to the influence of perfectionism of student development. However, many studies have paid disproportionate attention to Caucasian populations and how they learn, develop, and adjust their developmental processes in their academic journey. Little attention has been paid to non-Caucasian students and how their educational journey influenced by perfectionists. More specifically, evidence on how non-Caucasian cultures perceive perfectionism and how these perceptions influence the academic development and achievement of their members, is scarce. Therefore, this study explores perfectionism from a Chinese cultural lens and seeks to understand the relationship between the meritocracy beliefs held by Chinese parents regarding higher education, their expectations for their children undergoing tertiary education, and the higher education students perceive socially prescribed perfectionism. Therefore, the Chinese culture represents the non-Caucasian cultural setting for perfectionism, which has been understudied in existing literature.

Therefore, this study hopes to unearth insights into the influence of the Chinese culture on perfectionism and how those perceptions promote or undermine the Chinese higher education students’ performance and achievement. The Chinese society is selected as the study’s setting because it is a dominant society in the oriental world with unique cultural characteristics. In the same vein, higher education has exploded in China in the recent past with increasing populations seeking university credentials in a highly crowded and competitive higher educational setting. The findings derived from this study can augment the existing knowledge in the literature related to perfectionism across different cultures and how meritocracy beliefs held by parents influence the development of

1.3 Aim, Objectives and Research Questions

1.3.1 Aim

This study aims at understanding how parental meritocracy belief is related with their expectations and standards on higher education for their children.

1.3.2 Objectives

The objectives of this study are:

To explain the meaning of perfectionism as a socially-constructed concept
To explain perfectionism as multidimensional personality phenomenon
To explore the relationship between meritocracy and perfectionism
To investigate how cultural influences perfectionism
To explain the Chinese perception of perfectionism
To investigate how Chinese parents nurture academic perfectionism in their children

1.3.3 Research Questions

The primary question that this study attempts to answer is: Does parental meritocracy belief in higher education develop Chinese undergraduates’ socially prescribed perfectionism? How does this happen? Subsequently, the secondary questions considered in this study are:

Does parents’ meritocracy belief in higher education generate their high standards on their children?
When children perceive the failure to meet parents’ high standard, do they develop socially prescribed perfectionism?
How widely do meritocracy beliefs in higher education exist in Chinese culture? Why?
What are the factors for college students with national financial aids to perceive meritocracy belief in higher education?
What is the contribution of educators, peers and parents on the perceptions of meritocracy and socially prescribed perfectionism?
Why do Chinese parents set high expectations and standards for children to achieve in higher education?
To what extent are parents’ high standards on children related to the parental belief in meritocracy in higher education?

2.0 Literature Review

2.1 Socially Constructed Perfectionism

The understanding of the concept of perfectionism has evolved over time, with the traditional considerations of perfectionism as a unidimensional concept giving way to the more contemporary multidimensional approach. Traditionally, perfectionism was considered as the tendency to hold oneself to exceptionally high standards, often leading to negative psychological outcomes (Birch et al., 2019). At the time, perfectionism was viewed as being either normal or neurotic (Birch et al., 2019). These findings were derived from clinical settings and therefore did not benefit from the findings in non-clinical populations. However, this generalization was discarded as new evidence from non-clinical populations emerged and the modern theory of multidimensional perfectionism debuted in the 1990s. Initially, six dimensions of perfectionism were proposed, being condensed to three dimensions later. The six dimensions first suggested included high personal standards, preference for excessing order and organization, perceptions of extreme parental criticism, perceptions of high parental expectations, doubtfulness about the quality of individual’s actions, and excessive concern about erring (Birch et al., 2019). The three emerging condensed dimensions of perfectionism are socially prescribed perfectionism, self-oriented perfectionism, and other-oriented perfectionism (Birch et al., 2019). Similarly, perfectionism can be explained using the two factor theory, which categorizes the concept into two; perfectionistic concerns and perfectionistic strivings (Birch et al., 2019). Notably, perfectionistic concerns and perfectionist strivings are associated with negative and positive outcomes of perfectionism, respectively.

Socially constructed perfectionism is about the perfectionist expectations imposed on an individual by others in society. In other words, people may have high expectations of others and believe that perfectionism is attained when their high expectations are met. Sorkkila, M., & Aunola, K. (2020) reveled that finish mothers were more likely to burn out because of the inability to attain the high expectation the individual mothers and the finish society placed on motherhood, which can be termed as socially constructed perfectionism and self-oriented perfectionism demands, respectively. In this regard, Sorkkila and Aunola (2020) revealed that although self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism were related to higher psychological distress, socially prescribed perfectionism was related to low self-esteem among Hungarian adults. These findings reinforce the notion that perfectionism has healthy and unhealthy dimensions.

2.2 Meritocracy Beliefs

Cargile et al. (2019) revealed that meritocracy was a multidimensional concept with ideological beliefs that are linked to race. The descriptive and descriptive forms of racial meritocracy dialogues were associated with engagement and avoidance, respectively.

2.3 Chinese perceptions about perfectionism

2.4 Chinese perceptions about meritocracy

2.5 Influence of meritocracy and perfectionism on students’ academic performance and achievement

3.0 Methodology

3.1 Study design and approach

This study is designed as a qualitative secondary research. It is a qualitative study that seeks to explain the relationship between various concepts in a lived experience of a segment of the global population. In this regard, the phenomenon associated with the lived experience in perfectionism and the population segment experiencing this phenomenon in their lives comprises Chinese parents and higher education students. The phenomenon of perfectionism is best explained qualitatively rather than quantitatively to understand its causes, motivations, and effects. Qualitative studies are preferred for delivering an in-depth understanding of a phenomenon from the eyes of those that have lived the experience. In this regard, Chinese parents and higher education students are best positions to explain their perceptions about perfectionism because they have lived and experienced it firsthand.

This study uses secondary sources to obtain data and information that would help answer the research question, which is: what is the relationship among parental meritocracy belief in higher education, parental expectation in higher education, and college students’ socially prescribed perfectionism? Secondary sources contain research findings from previous studies. This approach is advantaged by revealing much and valuable information about a topic of interest with undergoing the rigors of collecting and analyzing primary data from numerous study subjects. In turn, the researcher saved much time and resources, which would have been otherwise, expended collecting primary data and conducting experiments. However, this study approach was limited by the lack of authenticity because the researcher relied on the findings of other researchers, and had no way of knowing there the finding were correct or erroneous. The researcher believed that the secondary sources were products of credible and ethical researchers, whose findings were trustworthy.

3.2 Sample and sampling procedure

The secondary sources were obtained from online repositories, which were queried using search engines, like Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic. The sources comprised peer-reviewed journal articles, institutional publications, commentaries from authorities, and news items from reliable media houses. The number of sources was not limited to a specific number because the emphasis was more on the sourced that provided the information related to the research topic rather than how many sources addressed the topic.

Therefore, purposive sampling was used because the search was directed by the study topic, objectives, and questions. Only those that were relevant to perfectionism were considered. In addition, the purposive sampling was conducted until theoretical saturation was reached, when additional sources did not present any new information or data. The internet search was guided by keywords like, perfectionism, perfectionism and meritocracy, perfectionism nurturing and parenting, perfectionism in higher education achievement, and perfectionism among the Chinese. These keywords helped narrow the internet search to sources that were relevant to the study. However, and inclusion and exclusion criteria helped improve the relevance of the sources further. For the source to be considered for this study, it had to have been published within 5 years, meaning in 2017 and later. It also was to have been published in English, considering that the author was targeting an English-speaking audience. In addition, the publications whose full downloadable versions could be obtained were also included in the study. Therefore, sources published in other languages apart from English or lacked English versions, were published before 2017 and whose full versions were inaccessible were rejected.

3.3 Data Analysis

Thematic analysis was used to analyze the information and data obtained from the secondary sources. The information obtained was organized into themes, after which these numerous minor themes were condensed into major themes. The thematic areas of interest were in line with the study objectives and questions.

4.0 Results

5.0 Discussion

6.0 Conclusion and Recommendations

7.0 References

Birch, H., Mcgann, D., & Riby, L. (2019). Perfectionism and PERMA: The benefits of other-oriented perfectionism. International Journal of Wellbeing, 9(1), 20-42. https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v9i1.749

Cargile, A. C., Mao, Y., & Young, S. L. (2019). What’s hard work got to do with it? Diversity course impact on meritocracy beliefs and dialogue about race. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 68, 13-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2018.10.005

Curran, T., & Hill, A. P. (2022). Young people’s perceptions of their parents’ expectations and criticism are increasing over time: Implications for perfectionism. Psychological Bulletin, 148(1-2), 107-128. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000347

Flett, G. L., & Hewitt, P. L. (2020). Reflections on three decades of research on multidimensional perfectionism: An introduction to the special issue on further advances in the assessment of perfectionism. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 38(1), 3-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282919881928

Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Nepon, T., Sherry, S. B., & Smith, M. (2022). The destructiveness and public health significance of socially prescribed perfectionism: A review, analysis, and conceptual extension. Clinical Psychology Review, 93, 102130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2022.102130

Juwono, I. D., Kun, B., Demetrovics, Z., & Urbán, R. (2022). Healthy and unhealthy dimensions of perfectionism: Perfectionism and mental health in hungarian adults. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-022-00771-8

Negru‐Subtirica, O., Pop, E. I., Damian, L. E., & Stoeber, J. (2021). The very best of me: longitudinal associations of perfectionism and identity processes in adolescence. Child Development, 92(5), 1855-1871. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13622

Olivos, F. (2021). Motivation, legitimation, or both? Reciprocal effects of parental meritocratic beliefs and children’s educational performance in china. Social Psychology Quarterly, 84(2), 110-131. https://doi.org/10.1177/0190272520984730

Seeliger, H., & Harendza, S. (2017). Is perfect good?–dimensions of perfectionism in newly admitted medical students. BMC medical education, 17(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-017-1034-9

Smith, M. M., Vidovic, V., Sherry, S. B., Stewart, S. H., & Saklofske, D. H. (2018). Are perfectionism dimensions risk factors for anxiety symptoms? A meta-analysis of 11 longitudinal studies. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 31(1), 4-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2017.1384466

Sorkkila, M., & Aunola, K. (2020). Risk factors for parental burnout among Finnish parents: The role of socially prescribed perfectionism. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 29(3), 648-659. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01607-1

Stricker, J., Buecker, S., Schneider, M., & Preckel, F. (2019). Multidimensional Perfectionism and the big five personality traits: a meta–analysis. European Journal of Personality, 33(2), 176-196. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2186

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