March 2, 2025, 2pm
Editor’s Note: This is part of a four-part series on recent research related to toxic perfectionism.
Do members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints experience perfectionism at a higher rate than others? That’s one of the questions that Justin Dyer, professor of religious education at BYU, noticed that he hadn’t studied previously.
Dyer and his colleagues sought to see if there was an answer to this question using research into the mental health of late-day saints. The six-year study included over 2,000 teens and young adults (approximately half the late-day saints, not half).
The professor and mental health experts wrote about their discoveries and the impact of toxic perfectionism in the December issue of BYU Studies Quarterly.
Dyer said he was surprised when research revealed that Latter-day Saints were less likely to experience unhealthy levels of perfectionism compared to other groups.
They found that 12% of Latter-day Saints surveyed. It was similar in 11-13% for other religions. However, 20% of atheists/agnostics and 27% of former Latter-day Saints were higher with higher toxic perfectionism.
“So what we found is that people who belong to religion, people who believe in God tend to have a lower level of toxic perfectionism,” Dyer said.
The difference between health and toxicity perfectionism
Dyer explained that healthy perfectionists set high goals, but if they don’t achieve those goals, they’re disappointed, but can adjust and move on.
Dyer, on the other hand, defined toxic perfectionism as “thinking your value as being linked to your success, and failure means (you) being less valuable.”
So, according to Dyer, if a person who receives the message that he is infinitely worthy of God, then he is less likely to experience toxic perfectionism.
Dyer points out that President Russell M. Nelson focuses on understanding “the truth about who you are.”
In a global prayer for young adults in May 2022, President Nelson said, first and foremost, each one is a child of God. Secondly, as members of the church, they are children of the covenant. And thirdly, they are disciples of Jesus Christ.
Dyer said: “When we have those identities, it prevents us from descending to “I’ve failed, so I’m not loved and worthless.” ”
Perfectionism and religion
Dyer also found that people suffering from high perfectionism can experience a decline in religiousness and weaker spiritual connections.
“Perfectionism definitely interrupts your abilities to connect with religion and to connect with God,” Dyer said.
However, Dyer points out that leaving his religion seems to do little to improve his toxic perfectionism feelings.
While he was studying perfectionism and mental health in general, Dyer said he learned that toxic perfectionism appears to be a state of mortality that can manifest in many aspects of his life.
“Yes, people can judge in the church. Yes, people can convey a message in the church that reinforces toxic perfectionism,” Dyer said. “But we also need to realize that this is part of the human process.”
An antidote to perfectionism
Understanding theology of being loved by our Heavenly Father and having a divine purpose can help us overcome high toxic perfectionism, but we can also benefit from the help of mental health professionals.
“Most people will experience a low level of toxic perfectionism in our lives that will make us sad,” Dyer said. He points out that some people with certain mental health conditions, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, experience high toxic perfectionism as a symptom of the condition, while others do not properly process information called cognitive distortion.
Still, in an introduction to the December issue of BYU research, Dyer reveals that Latter-day Saints can find hope in working to reduce toxic perfectionism and find healing and healthy ideas about perfectionism through Christ.
Dyer writes: Of course, this price is something we can never pay, but we are not asked to pay. In the history of the world, there is only one sinless life, and that life was fully lived by Jesus, Christ.
