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Maladaptive perfectionism

Also called: neurotic perfectionism, rigid standards

Not high standards themselves, but the inability to be satisfied when they are met — plus the belief that your worth depends on meeting them.

Research consistently separates two things that sound alike. Perfectionistic striving — high standards, ambition, attention to detail — correlates with good performance and good wellbeing. Perfectionistic concerns — fear of mistakes, chronic doubt about one's own actions, sensitivity to criticism — correlate with anxiety, depression and burnout.

The second is the maladaptive half, and its signature is not effort but the absence of satisfaction. Top marks produce no joy, only temporary relief that this time it did not show. And relief does not accumulate.

The counterintuitive consequence is that maladaptive perfectionism lowers productivity. Fear of delivering something imperfect produces delay, delay produces time pressure, time pressure produces weaker work — which confirms the original fear.

Andrew Hill and Thomas Curran showed, in a 2017 meta-analysis, a significant rise in perfectionism among students between 1989 and 2016, particularly the “socially prescribed” form — the belief that others demand perfection.

What it is confused with

With high standards. The standard is not the problem; what happens on falling short is. Someone with adaptive high standards is dissatisfied with the result; someone with maladaptive perfectionism is dissatisfied with themselves.

With conscientiousness. Conscientiousness is a trait associated with good outcomes. Maladaptive perfectionism looks similar from outside and produces the opposite, because it adds the fear.

With obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. They overlap, but perfectionism is a dimension present in many people with no diagnosis at all.

Related terms

Self-esteemToxic shameSelf-sabotage

Methods that work with this

Cognitive behavioural therapySchema therapy

These definitions are informational. They do not replace an assessment by a professional and are not enough for self-diagnosis.

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