Perfectionism is the ongoing effort to meet high standards that a person sets for themselves. Even though chasing perfection can cause anxiety and stress, and may even be harmful, the individual continues to pursue these unattainable goals.
Some people may be perfectionists in just one aspect of their lives, like their job, but it is more common to see perfectionism across several areas. These can include important aspects such as work, school, social connections, sports, looks, weight, cleanliness, home condition, friendships, music, and hobbies.
When individuals base their self-worth on their ability to meet their own standards, and their inner critic becomes active when they feel they are falling short, perfectionism may turn out to be more damaging than beneficial.
Perfectionists often stress themselves by focusing too much on details and worrying about how others see them. They frequently feel inadequate and fear failure while trying to succeed.
This mindset may lead them to avoid certain tasks because they are afraid of not succeeding. Even when they do reach their goals, they often downplay their accomplishments, believing those goals were too easy and setting even higher ones for the future.
If someone fails to acknowledge their successes, they may end up in a position where they never feel satisfied. Even with success, they might still view themselves as failures.
Perfectionists set very high and tough standards for themselves. What matters is that they define these standards as challenging.
Setting goals is a normal aspect of life. Perfectionism occurs when individuals become too hard on themselves for not meeting their personal expectations.
Perfectionists tend to concentrate on their failures more than their successes. They remember the times they didn’t meet their standards while overlooking when they did well. They often criticize themselves for what they perceive as failures, using harsh self-talk like “I should have done that better.”
Perfectionism can lead to behaviors like checking and rechecking, repeating tasks, spending too much time on responsibilities, avoiding or delaying actions, making endless lists, obsessing over details, and feeling frustrated by wasted time, resulting in excessive busyness.
You might see perfectionists re-read emails before sending them to ensure they are flawless or rewrite a text multiple times. Sometimes they take pride in the exhaustion that comes from being busy, viewing it as proof of their effort.
Like any personality trait, perfectionism is shaped by both genetic and environmental influences. Personal choices can help reduce the negative impact of perfectionism.
Perfectionism doesn’t come from one single reason; instead, it arises from a mix of various connected factors. Genes that affect perfectionism work with environmental influences and activate different biological pathways to cause this behavior.