However, in the “perfectionist’s” mind, many possible actions or endeavors appear in the same light because he/she “knows” for sure that it will fail and so is not willing to even take small steps in that direction. For instance, we would consider that person insane who tried to peddle blocks of ice as fuel for our furnaces to keep our houses warm! We can see how ridiculous this is. However, although failure is necessary in our education, we would be foolish indeed to knowingly and willingly do something that we are 100% sure will fail. Of course, no one wants to willingly set himself up for “failure” although we do know that it is a necessary process for growth. In the mind, anything that is not perfect is a failure. This fear will successfully keep that person in the place where they are at the present and effectively prevent him/her from personal expansion. If you feel that something is not finished or satisfactory until it is “perfect”, you can see that you will always be disappointed with yourself and life in general, no matter how successful you may be.īecause the “neurotic perfectionist” sees him/her self as a failure at everything he/she does, it is very common to develop a very real fear of doing anything, especially if it may be something a little different than the norm. Thus, by demanding perfection in everything he or she does, the “neurotic perfectionist” is setting him/her self up for continual, prolonged and absolute failure. By definition, therefore, if improvement is possible, it is not perfect.
First of all, it is safe to say that there is almost no task or action that can not be improved upon, no matter how successful it may have been. Of course, there are several problems with this thinking. They are obsessed with the theory that NO job or action should ever be considered finished or satisfactory until it is perfect and can not be improved upon. However, the “neurotic” perfectionists are far from being productive, useful and balanced members of our society. They have learned to use perfectionism as a tool to help them excel in whatever field they may choose. The perfectionism that we are discussing here is the “pathological” or “neurotic” form.įor sure, we recognize the value of people that realize that “if a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well.” They are usually very efficient people who tend to take pride in their work, themselves, their general surroundings and are a great asset to society.
Normal perfectionists "derive a very real sense of pleasure from the labors of a painstaking effort" while neurotic perfectionists are "unable to feel satisfaction because in their own eyes they never seem to do things enough to warrant that feeling of satisfaction". Hamachek (cited by Parker & Adkins 1994) describes two types of perfectionism. In its pathological form, perfectionism is a belief that work or output that is anything less than perfect is unacceptable. doi:10.1371/, in psychology, is a belief that perfection can and should be attained.
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