“A Different Standard of Perfect”: Racialized Athletes" Experiences of Perfectionism in Post-Secondary Sport

Perfectionism is widely observed in sport and has been shown to meaningfully influence athletes’ experiences (Flett & Hewitt, 2014; Hill et al., 2023). Despite extensive literature on perfectionism in sport, the experiences of racialized athletes remain underexplored, reflecting a broader pattern of underrepresentation in research (Joseph et al., 2022; Raddatz et al., 2023). This study explored how racialized post-secondary athletes experience and make meaning of perfectionism, drawing on Critical Race Theory, anti-racism principles, and intersectionality frameworks. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis was applied to the experiences of 12 racialized student-athletes (ages 19–30) from various sports through one-hour semi-structured interviews. The sample included six men, four women, one genderqueer participant, and one who preferred not to disclose their gender. Four participants identified as East Asian, three as South Asian, three as bi-racial, and two as Black. Three themes were generated through IPA data analysis. Theme one, “Cultural Expectations and Perfectionism,” describes how cultural values, such as familial pressure and community representation shaped participants’ perfectionistic tendencies. Theme two, “Alone and Under the Microscope,” demonstrates the experience of racial isolation and how this visibility led to microaggressions, stereotype-based scrutiny, and pressure to perform. Theme three, “Pushing for Representation and Belonging,” reflects participants’ desire for more diverse sport spaces and the emotional toll of navigating environments lacking psychological safety and cultural understanding. These findings illustrate how perfectionism is shaped by cultural expectations, racial isolation, and systemic inequities, highlighting sociocultural, not merely individual, dimensions for racialized athletes. Keywords: Perfectionism, racialized athletes, anti-racism, Critical Race Theory, intersectionality