Perfectionists, by definition, strive for the best, trying to ace exams, be meticulous at their jobs, and raise perfect children. So one might assume this drive for the ideal translates over to their health as well, with perfectionist being models for physical and mental well-being.

完美，據(jù)其定義可以描述為：爭取最好、盡力考試優(yōu)秀,、工作一絲不茍,、養(yǎng)育完美的孩子……所以一個人可能也會以這種完美的信念來看待他們的健康,，完美主義者是身體和精神健康的典范,。

But new research is revealing the disorder can bring both profits and perils.

但新的研究揭示出混亂失調(diào)狀態(tài)同樣有其利和弊,。

Though perfection is an impossible goal, striving for it can be a boon for one’s health, causing one to stick to exercise programs to a tee, say, or follow a strict regimen for treating chronic illnesses like type 2 diabetes. But the same lofty goals can mean added mental pressure when mistakes are made and the resistance to asking for help from others in fear of revealing one's true, imperfect self.

盡管完美是一個無法企及的目標,，而盡力追求完美卻對個人健康有利,，它會促使一個人堅持所說的鍛煉過程，或者遵循嚴格的生活原則來治療諸如第2型糖尿病等的慢性疾病,。但當錯誤發(fā)生或者因為害怕揭示出自己真正的并不完美的自己而不去求助他們,，這一崇高的目標可能會意味著增加自己的精神壓力。

In fact studies show the personality trait of perfectionism is linked to poor physical health and an increased risk of death.

事實上研究表明完全主義的個性是和糟糕的身體狀況,，以及升高的死亡率聯(lián)系在一起的,。

Researchers are just beginning to tease apart this complex trait and its relation to health.

研究者們正開始梳理分析這一復(fù)雜的特性及其與健康的關(guān)系。

"Perfectionism is a virtue to be extolled definitely," said Prem Fry, a psychology professor at Trinity Western University in Canada. "But beyond a certain threshold, it backfires and becomes an impediment," she said.

加拿大西三一大學(xué)的心理學(xué)教授Prem Fry說：完美是人們贊揚的一種品質(zhì),，但超過一定的限度之后,，它卻會事與愿違并變成妨礙我們。

Fry and several of her colleagues recently spoke at a symposium on perfectionism and health at the Association for Psychological Science convention in Boston.

Fry和她的幾個同事最近將會在波士頓舉行的心理科學(xué)協(xié)會上就完美主義與健康的關(guān)系發(fā)表題學(xué)術(shù)討論,。

What is perfectionism?

什么是完美主義,？

While some might aim to be perfect in certain areas of their life — such as an athlete who must stick to a grueling workout schedule — true perfectionism comes in a generalized form.

盡管某些人可能想在他們生活的特定領(lǐng)域追求完美——比如一個必須堅持運動時間的運動員——而真正的完美主義者卻有更廣泛的形式。

"You should want to be perfect across a variety of aspects of your life," said Gordon Flett, a psychology professor at York University in Canada.

加拿大約克大學(xué)的心理學(xué)教授Gordon Flett說：你應(yīng)該是想在你生活的許多方面都力求完美,。

"It's natural to be perfectionistic in the thing that matters the most, like your job — if you're a surgeon, there's no room for error," Flett said. " you don’t want that same person to be going home and using those same standards to evaluate family members, which causes stress," he said. "It has to generalize."

Flett說：對一些重要的事情我們追求是很自然的,，比如你的工作——如果你是一個外科醫(yī)生，就絕對不允許錯誤的發(fā)生,。但你卻不希望他在家里的時候也是這個樣子,，也不會用相同的標準來衡量家庭成員，這只會帶來壓力,。

Perfectionism tends to have two components: a positive side, including things like setting high standards for themselves; and a negative side, which involves more deleterious factors, such as having doubts and concerns over mistakes and feeling pressure from others to be perfect.

完美主義通常有兩部分組成：積極的一面,，包括為自己設(shè)定很高的標準；消極的一面,，包括更多的有害的因素,，比如對錯誤有懷疑或過于關(guān)注錯誤，面對那些比自己完美的人感覺有壓力,。

Some scientists have argued a subset of these high-achievers can be classified as "positive perfectionists," those who reap the benefits of perfectionism without falling victim to its ills. However, others say that while perfectionism might seem to be advantageous in certain situations, it always has a dark side that inevitably rears its head. For instance, a perfectionist might seem fine under normal circumstances, but lose control under stress.

一些科學(xué)家將那些有很高成就的小團體分類為“積極的完美主義者”,，這些人收獲了完美主義的益處卻沒有成為完美主義的犧牲品,。然而，其他人說盡管完美主義或許在某些情況下是有益的,，但它的陰暗面卻不可避免的會出現(xiàn),。例如，在正常情況下,，一個完美主義者看起來很好,，但在有壓力的時候就會失去控制。

While the existence of "positive perfectionists" is still debated, there's no doubt the trait can be quite counterproductive in some cases.

雖然“積極的完美主義者”仍會爭論,，但毫無疑問的是這一品質(zhì)在某些情況下肯定會起到相反的作用,。

"That, in essence is the paradox of perfectionism, that certain people have extraordinarily high standards, but objectively can often look very dysfunctional in terms of their daily functioning, their physical health, their achievement," said Patricia DiBartolo, a psychology professor at Smith College, in Northampton, Mass. "They flunk out of college, and the reason why is they're so perfectionistic they can't actually achieve any goal; as you begin the process, it's just impossible."

北安普敦馬斯的史密斯學(xué)院心理學(xué)教授Patricia BiBartolo說：在本質(zhì)上它是完美主義的相反面，某些人有著相當高的標準,，但客觀上談到他們?nèi)粘０l(fā)揮,、他們的身體健康狀況和他們的成就時卻常常顯得功能失調(diào)。他們中途退出大學(xué),，而原因就是他們太追求完美以至于實際上達不到所定的目標,；當你開始這一進程的時候，它就是不可能的,。

Perfectionism and lifespan

完美主義和壽命

Compared with the number of studies looking at perfectionism's impact on mental health, relatively few have examined the condition's toll on physical health. Some earlier work has linked the trait with various ailments, including migraines, chronic pain and asthma.

比較眾多的分析完美主義對精神健康影響的研究,，很少有研究檢查這種情況對身體造成的損失。早期的一些著作已經(jīng)把這一品質(zhì)與很多小病聯(lián)系在一起了,，包括偏頭痛,、慢性疼痛和哮喘。

Fry and her colleagues recently looked at the relationship between perfectionism and overall risk of death. The study followed 450 adults aged 65 and older for 6.5 years. The participants completed an initial questionnaire to assess their level of perfectionism and other personality traits.

Fry和她的同事最近研究完美主義與死亡整體風(fēng)險之間的關(guān)系,。研究跟蹤調(diào)查了450個年齡在65歲及以上的成年人達6.5年之久,。參與者們開始的時候通過完成一個調(diào)查問卷來來評定他們完美主義及其他個人品質(zhì)的水平。

Those with high perfectionism scores, meaning they placed high expectations on themselves to be perfect, had a 51-percent increased risk of death compared to those with low scores.

那些完美主義得分較高的人意味頭顱他們對自己達到完美的期望較高,，與那些得分較低的人相比，他們有高于51%的死亡風(fēng)險率,。

The researchers suspect high levels of stress and anxiety, which are known to be linked with perfectionism, might contribute to the decrease in lifespan.

研究者們推測高度的壓力和焦慮,，人們知道這是跟完美主義相關(guān)的，可能是壽命縮短的原因,。

Next, they reasoned that if perfectionism showed this association in a normal population, it might have an even greater impact on those with a chronic disease, which would put their bodies under even more stress.

接著,，他們推斷說如果完美主義在正常人群中有如此的關(guān)系的話，它將在有慢性疾病的人群中產(chǎn)生更為嚴重的影響,，這將會給他們的身體帶來更多的壓力,。

But after following 385 patients with type 2 diabetes for 6.5 years, the researchers actually saw the opposite effect. Those with high perfectionism scores had a 26-percent lower risk of death than those with low scores.

但隨后的跟蹤385位有第2糖尿病癥狀的病人6.5年之后，研究者們實際上看到了相反的效果。那些完美主義得分較高的人比那些得分較低的人死亡風(fēng)險的機率要低26%,。

The results suggest that in certain situations, perfectionism can have advantages. With type 2 diabetes, scrupulous attention to blood sugar levels and strict adherence to dietary rules can have payoffs in terms of reducing disease severity, the researchers suspect.

研究結(jié)果表明,，在特定的情況下，完美主義是有益處的,。研究者們推測說患有第2型糖尿病的人,，他們小心謹慎關(guān)注血糖的含量，嚴格遵守飲食規(guī)定會有助于他們降低疾病的嚴重程度,。

"[Perfectionists] are very self-critical, they are not satisfied ever with their performance," Fry said.

Fry說：完美主義者是十分律已的,，他們從不滿足于自己的表現(xiàn)。

"In this particular study on diabetes, those kinds of perfectionistic attitudes, normally we would regard them to be dysfunctional attitudes, but in the case of the diabetic sample, they turned out to be very positive traits," she said. "These individuals were highly self-critical, they worked harder than the average person to adhere to the instructions of the physician or the attending doctor in staying with all the do's and dont’s of diabetic diet constraints."

她說：在糖尿病這一特殊的研究中,，這一完美主義的態(tài)度，正常情況下我們會認為他們是功能有障礙的態(tài)度,，但在糖尿病的例子中,，他們卻成為了十分積極的品質(zhì)。這些個人十分律己,，他們比普通人更努力的遵守醫(yī)師的指導(dǎo)來遵從糖尿病人應(yīng)該注意的飲食約束,。

"So they ended up taking better care of themselves through self-management than people who were sort of more easygoing and lax," she said.

她說：所以他們通過自我管理，比那些有些隨意和松懈的人更注重照顧他們自己,。

Who expects perfection?

誰會期望完美呢,？

Some studies suggest the role of perfectionism on health might depend on who’s imposing the high standards.

一些研究表明完美主義在健康方面的作用取決于那些強加于身上的高標準。

In 2006, Danielle Molnar, of Brock University in Canada, examined the perfectionism-health link in nearly 500 Canadian adults between the ages of 24 and 35.

加拿大布魯克大學(xué)的Danielle Molnar在2006年的時候,，通過調(diào)查約500位加拿大24--35歲的成年人來研究完美主義和健康之間的關(guān)系,。

The study assessed participants for three different dimensions of perfectionism: self-oriented perfectionism, in which individuals impose high standards on themselves; socially prescribed perfectionism, where individuals feel others expect them to be perfect; and other-oriented, in which individuals place high standards on others.

研究根據(jù)三種不同的完美主義尺度評估了參與者：自我導(dǎo)向型完美主義，這些人把高標準強加于已身,；社會定向型完美主義者,，這時個人認為是其他人期望他們是完美的；他人取向型完美主義,，這種情況下個人會把高標準強加在其他人身上,。

People experience these perfectionist traits to varying degrees. One person might score high on all three, or they might fall into one extreme or another such as self-oriented perfectionism.

人們會經(jīng)歷各種不同程度的完美主義者的品質(zhì)。一個人可能在三個方面得分都高,，或者他們在某個方面達到極端,，比如自我導(dǎo)向型完美主義。

The researchers found socially prescribed perfectionism was associated with poorer physical health, which in this case meant individuals experienced more symptoms of health problems, had more doctors visits, took more days off work, and gave themselves low scores when asked to rate their health.

研究者們發(fā)現(xiàn)社會定向型完美主義者往往跟差的身體健康狀況聯(lián)系在一起,，也就是說這種情況下的人經(jīng)歷更多癥狀的健康問題,、更頻繁的看醫(yī)生、更多的請假,，并且當問到他們健康問題的時候給自己的評分很低,。

On the other hand, self-oriented perfectionism was associated with better physical health.

另一方面，自我導(dǎo)向型完美主義的身體健康狀況較好,。

So what’s behind this relationship?

那么其中的關(guān)系是什么呢,？

One factor could be the degree to which people feel happy or sad, known in psychology as positive or negative affect. The 2006 paper showed general negative feelings, including feeling anxious and upset, could partially explain the relationship they saw between socially prescribed perfectionism and poorer health. And feelings of happiness explained self-oriented perfection's link with better health.

一個因素可能是人們感覺到幸?；虮瘋某潭龋谛睦韺W(xué)上被看作積極的或負面的影響,。2006年的論文表明了普通的消極情緒,，包括焦慮和心煩，會部分地解釋他們發(fā)現(xiàn)的社會定向型完美主義與糟糕的健康狀況之間的關(guān)系,。而幸福的感覺解釋了自我導(dǎo)向型完美主義是與好的健康狀況聯(lián)系在一起的,。

However, the pathway that connects perfectionism to health is likely more complex.

然而，連接完美主義與健康的道路卻可能更加復(fù)雜,。

For instance, in more recent research, Molnar found self-imposed perfectionism conferred pros and cons with regard to health that canceled each other out.

舉例來說,，在最近的研究中，Molnar發(fā)現(xiàn)自我導(dǎo)向型完美主義對健康有利有弊,，并且能相互抵消,。

"On one hand it was related to higher levels of stress in students, which was related to lower levels of health," Molnar said. "On the other hand it had a protective factor, because it was also related to lower levels of high risk behavior," which includes things such as smoking and drinking.

Molnar說：一方面，在學(xué)生當中它是與高度的壓力相聯(lián)系的,，這進一步又與糟糕的健康水平相關(guān),。另一方面，它還有一種保護的因素,，因為它還與較低水平的高風(fēng)險行為相聯(lián)系,，比如吸煙和酗酒。

"You really have to look at the mechanism, not just looking at how perfectionism is directly related to health, but what pathways link it to health?" Molnar said. "Unless you look at the mechanism, a lot of the time [the effect] washes itself out because it will have opposing relationships."

Molnar說：你真的需要去研究下它的機理,，而不僅僅是研究完美主義是如何與健康直接相關(guān)的,，要去研究通過什么途徑它與健康相邊。除非你去研究其原理,，不然的話就是浪費大量的時間,，因為它將會表現(xiàn)出對立的關(guān)系。

Other factors

其他因素

Those who feel others expect them to be perfect might also experience declines in health as a result of distancing themselves from other people, and any support from friends and family.

那些感覺別人期望他們完美的人可能會經(jīng)歷健康狀況的衰退,，因為他們遠離其他人,，朋友及家人的支持。

"We know social support is a huge indicator of physical health. If you tend to have strong bonds with people, good family life, good friendships, you tend to be healthier," Molnar said. "And we know socially prescribed perfectionists, they tend to have this sense of disconnection with other people, so it would make sense that one of the ways they would experience poorer health is because of this sense of social disconnection from others."

Molnar說：我們知道社會支持是健康狀況的一個重大指標,。如果你有牢固的人際關(guān)系,、美妙的家庭生活、深厚的友情,，你也會更加健康,。我們知道社會定向型完美主義者，他們傾向于與其他人斷開聯(lián)系,，也正因為與其他人之間的關(guān)系斷裂,，所以這將會使他們經(jīng)歷糟糕的健康狀況。

Even if others reach out to help, socially prescribed perfectionists may view the kind actions as critical.

即使他人提供幫助，社會定向型完美主義者們可能也會視這種友善的行為是一種批評和嘲諷,。

"Even when the levels of received support, so the support they're actually getting, is the same, there's been some work showing that perfectionists will actually appraise it differently," Molnar said. "They don’t see it as nurturing and supportive, but that people are being critical of them, and they're interfering, they're perceiving that people aren’t there for them," she said.

Molnar說：即使是接受幫助的程度,，就是他們實際上得到的支持也是一樣的，在完美主義者中表現(xiàn)出來的效用也會得到不同的評定,。他們不會認為那是培育和支持,，而認為人們是在批判他們，他們是在多管閑事,，他們感覺人們不是為了幫他們才出現(xiàn)在那兒的,。

Other perfectionists might hold off on asking for help altogether, because they don't want to let on that there's anything wrong, or that they're imperfect in some way.

其他的完美主義者可能總是不停的推遲尋求幫助，因為他們不想被人知道有什么錯誤的地方,，或者他們在某些方面并不完美,。

"If you have to ask someone for help, well that means you're flawed, that means you're weak, right? And so I think there's also that presentation of not wanting to seem like you need help from others," said Fuschia Sirois, of the University of Windsor in Canada.

加拿大溫莎大學(xué)的Fuschia Sirois 說：如果你需要尋求幫助，那就意味著你是有缺陷的,，意味著你是弱者,，對嗎？所以我想也會有不想讓別人看到自己好像需要別人的幫助似的相關(guān)的描述,。

Poor health could also be the result of perfectionists leaving little time to care for themselves, while spending every minute striving for perfection, Sirois said.

Sirois 說：因為沒有太多的時間關(guān)心自己，所以完美主義者的健康狀況不好,，他們把每一分鐘都花在追求完美上了,。

Future work

未來的工作

More work is needed to untangle the intricate relationship between perfectionism and health.

要理清完美主義和健康之間復(fù)雜的關(guān)系還有很多的工作要做。

For instance, few studies have examined perfectionismin older adults, which might be due to the incorrect notion that perfectionism eases with age, Fry said.

Fry說：例如,，很少有研究調(diào)查老年人中的完美主義,，這可能是因為人們不正確的觀念，認為完美主義會隨著年齡的增長而有所緩和,。

"We've gone along with the misconception that if people are perfectionistic in their earlier stages of life, that in late life their perfectionism sort of automatically tapers off, but it doesn’t tapper off," she said.

她說：我們會產(chǎn)生這樣的誤解,，如果人們在他們年輕時追求完美的話，那么他們晚年時他們追求完美的性格會稍微自動的減弱,，但實際上它并沒有,。

Perfectionism in the elderly is of particular concern because, although they still have the same high expectations, they are unable to perform as well, which could ultimately lead to greater depression and anxiety, Fry said.

Fry說：晚年時的完美主義更要給予特別的關(guān)注，盡管他們?nèi)允怯泻芨叩钠谕?，但他們不能?zhí)行的如此好了,，這會最終導(dǎo)致更大的失望和焦慮。

Researchers should also focus on understanding exactly why perfectionism is associated with poorer health or better health, depending on the situation.

研究者們還應(yīng)該聚焦于精確地理解為何完美主義根據(jù)不同的情境會和好的或壞的健康狀況聯(lián)系在一起,。

"Without knowing the whys we can't intervene, we can't help these people," Molnar said. "These people are walking around with incredibly unrealistic expectations … they're not just striving for excellence, they're striving for absolute perfection, which of course is impossible. So they're setting themselves up for more failure experiences," she said.

Molnar說：如果不知道原因,，我們就不能進行干預(yù)，就不能幫助這些人,。這些人帶著非常不切實際的期望…他們不僅僅努力追求卓越,，他們追求絕對的完美，而這是絕對不可能的。所以他們自己陷入在了更多失敗經(jīng)歷的困境之中,。

"We have to start understanding what's going on in the middle so how can we help these people."

我們已經(jīng)開始理解其中發(fā)生的事情來幫助這些追求完美的人們,。