1. See, for example, Russell M. Nelson, “Perfection Pending,” Ensign 25, no. 11 (November 1995): 86–88, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1995/11/perfection-pending; Jeffrey R. Holland, “Be Ye Therefore Perfect—Eventually,” Ensign 47, no. 11 (November 2017): 40–42, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2017/11/saturday-morning-session/be-ye-therefore-perfect-eventually.

2. “A Crash Course on Overcoming Perfectionism,” Gospel Living, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, May 26, 2021, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/inspiration/a-crash-course-on-overcoming-perfectionism.

3. Nathan Read, “Perfectionism: A Toxic Game of ‘Spot-the-Difference,’” Ensign 49, no. 9 (September 2019): 72–75, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2019/09/young-adults/perfectionism-a-toxic-game-of-spot-the-difference.

4. “Perfectionism: Will I Ever Be Good Enough?,” Come unto Christ, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, accessed October 23, 2024, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/video/perfectionism.

5. Marianne Holman, “BYU Head Decries Perfectionism,” Deseret News, September 7, 2011, https://www.deseret.com/2011/9/8/20214505/byu-head-decries-perfectionism/.

6. Sydney Walker and Valerie Walton, “What 3 Mental Health Experts Taught at BYU Education Week About Anxiety, Perfectionism, Religious OCD, and Depression,” Church News, August 20, 2021, https://www.thechurchnews.com/2021/8/20/23218655/byu-education-week-mental-health-anxiety-depression-religious-ocd-perfectionism/.

7. Marilynne Todd Linford, “Is Perfectionism Really About ‘Be Ye Therefore Perfect’?,” Meridian Magazine, January 25, 2022, https://latterdaysaintmag.com/is-perfectionism-really-about-be-ye-therefore-perfect/.

8. DazzlingArmadillo6, “R/Exmormon on Reddit: ‘A Culture of Toxic Perfectionism,’” Reddit, 2019, https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/e8yk34/a_culture_of_toxic_perfectionism/.

9. Holland, “Be Ye Therefore Perfect,” 40.

10. APA Dictionary of Psychology, “Perfectionism,” American Psychological Association, updated April 19, 2018, https://dictionary.apa.org/perfectionism.

11. “What Is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?,” Psychiatry.org, reviewed September 2024, https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/obsessive-compulsive-disorder/what-is-obsessive-compulsive-disorder.

12. C. Alec Pollard, “What is OCD & Scrupulosity?,” International OCD Foundation, revised 2022 by Jedidiah Siev, https://iocdf.org/faith-ocd/what-is-ocd-scrupulosity/.

13. G. E. Kawika Allen, Abigail Norton, Sara Pulsipher, David Johnson, and Benson Bunker, “I Worry That I Am Almost Perfect! Examining Relationships Among Perfectionism, Scrupulosity, Intrinsic Spirituality, and Psychological Well-Being Among Latter-day Saints,” Spirituality in Clinical Practice 10, no. 4 (2021): 316–25, https://doi.org/10.1037/scp0000273.

14. Po Hu, Pengwei Liang, Xiaoyan Liu, Yuting Ouyang, and Jianping Wang, “Parenting Styles and Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in College Students: The Mediating Role of Perfectionism,” Front Psychiatry 14 (July 2023): article 1126689, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1126689.

15. Dakota Mauzay and Carrie Cuttler, “Dysfunctional Cognitions Mediate the Relationships Between Religiosity, Paranormal Beliefs, and Symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,” Mental Health, Religion & Culture 21, no. 8 (2019): 838–50, https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2019.1583176.

16. G. E. Kawika Allen and Kenneth T. Wang, “Examining Religious Commitment, Perfectionism, Scrupulosity, and Well-Being Among LDS Individuals,” Psychology of Religion and Spirituality 6, no. 3 (2014): 257–64, https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035197.

17. G. E. Kawika Allen, Kenneth T. Wang, and Hannah Stokes, “Examining Legalism, Scrupulosity, Family Perfectionism, and Psychological Adjustment Among LDS Individuals,” Mental Health, Religion & Culture 18, no. 4 (2015): 246–58, https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2015.1021312.

18. Jeffrey S. Ashby and Judy Huffman, “Religious Orientation and Multidimensional Perfectionism: Relationships and Implications,” Counseling and Values 43, no. 3 (2011): 178–88, https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-007X.1999.tb00141.x.

19. Allen and others, “I Worry That I Am Almost Perfect!,” 316–25.

20. Marleen Williams, “Family Attitudes and Perfectionism as Related to Depression in Latter-day Saint and Protestant Women,” in Religion, Mental Health, and the Latter-day Saints, ed. Daniel K. Judd (Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1999): 47–66.

21. Craig J. Gonsalvez, Alex R. Hains, and Gerard Stoyles, “Relationship Between Religion and Obsessive Phenomena,” Australian Journal of Psychology 62, no. 2 (2009): 93–102, https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530902887859; Jennifer L. Buchholz and others, “Scrupulosity, Religious Affiliation and Symptom Presentation in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder,” Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy 47, no. 4 (2019): 478–92, https://doi.org/10.1017/S1352465818000711.

22. E. McIngvale, K. Rufino, M. Ehlers, and J. Hart, “An In-Depth Look at the Scrupulosity Dimension of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,” Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health 19 (March 2017): 295–305, https://doi.org/10.1080/19349637.2017.1288075.

23. APA Dictionary of Psychology, “Intrinsic Religion,” American Psychological Association, updated April 19, 2018, https://dictionary.apa.org/intrinsic-religion; APA Dictionary of Psychology, “Extrinsic Religion,” American Psychological Association, updated April 19, 2018, https://dictionary.apa.org/extrinsic-religion.

24. Jesse M. Crosby, Scott C. Bates, and Michael P. Twohig, “Examination of the Relationship Between Perfectionism and Religiosity as Mediated by Psychological Inflexibility,” Current Psychology: A Journal for Diverse Perspectives on Diverse Psychological Issues 30, no. 2 (2011): 117–29, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-011-9104-3.

25. Patrick R. Steffen, “Perfectionism and Life Aspirations in Intrinsically and Extrinsically Religious Individuals,” Journal of Religion and Health 53 (February 2013) 945–58, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-013-9692-3.

26. Peter W. Sanders, G. E. Kawika Allen, Lane Fischer, P. Scott Richards, David T. Morgan, and Richard W. Potts, “Intrinsic Religiousness and Spirituality as Predictors of Mental Health and Positive Psychological Functioning in Latter-day Saint Adolescents and Young Adults,” Journal of Religion and Health 54 (2015): 871–87, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-015-0043-4.

27. Samuel O. Peer and James S. McGraw, “Mixed-Method Study of Perfectionism and Religiosity Among Mormons: Implications for Cultural Competence and Clinical Practice,” Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy 38, no. 1 (2017): 77–100, https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/irp/vol38/iss1/12.

28. Crosby and others, “Relationship Between Perfectionism and Religiosity,” 117–29.

29. Allen and others, “Examining Legalism, Scrupulosity, Family Perfectionism, and Psychological Adjustment,” 246–58.

30. Kyler Ray Rasmussen, Niwako Yamawaki, Jamie Moses, Lindy Powell, and Brandon Bastian, “The Relationships Between Perfectionism, Religious Motivation, and Mental Health Utilisation Among Latter-Day Saint Students,” Mental Health, Religion & Culture 16, no. 6 (2013): 612–16, https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2012.706273.

31. Allen and others, “I Worry That I Am Almost Perfect!,” 316–25.

32. Bart Neyrinck, Maarten Vansteenkiste, Willy Lens, Bart Duriez, and Dirk Hutsebaut, “Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Correlates of Internalization of Regulations for Religious Activities,” Motivation and Emotion 30 (November 2006): 321–32, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-006-9048-3.

33. Gonsalvez and others, “Relationship Between Religion and Obsessive Phenomena,” 93–102.

34. Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “legalism,” accessed October 23, 2024, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/legalism.

35. Oxford English Dictionary, “grace, noun,” sense I.1.b, accessed October 23, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/7058290127.

36. See Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “The Gift of Grace,” Ensign 45, no. 5 (May 2015): 107–10.

37. Daniel K. Judd, William Justin Dyer, and Justin B. Top, “Grace, Legalism, and Mental Health: Examining Direct and Mediating Relationships,” Psychology of Religion and Spirituality 12, no. 1 (2020): 26–35, https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000211.

38. Jennifer Wortmann, “Religious Coping,” in Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine, ed. Marc D. Gellman and J. Rick Turner (Springer, 2013), 1647–48, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_665.

39. Wortmann, “Religious Coping,” 1647–48.

40. Wortmann, “Religious Coping,” 1647–48.

41. Allen and others, “I Worry That I Am Almost Perfect!,” 316–25.

42. Kenneth T. Wang, G. E. Kawika Allen, Hannah I. Stokes, and Han Na Suh, “Perceived Perfectionism from God Scale: Development and Initial Evidence,” Journal of Religion and Health 57 (May 2017): 2207–23, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-017-0405-1.