Psychodynamics of normal and neurotic perfectionism

Discusses the characteristics, antecedents, and behavioral symptoms of normal and neurotic perfectionism. Normal perfectionists set realistic standards for themselves, derive pleasure from their painstaking labors, and are capable of choosing to be less precise in certain situations. Neurotic perfectionists, on the other hand, demand of themselves a usually unattainable level of performance, experience their efforts as unsatisfactory, and are unable to relax their standards. The development of neurotic perfectionism tends to occur in 1 of 2 kinds of emotive environments: (a) nonapproval or inconsistent approval in which parents fail to establish explicit performance standards for the child, or (b) parental expressions of conditional positive approval far exceed those of unconditional positive approval. Normal perfectionism tends to develop through either positive modeling (the close identification of the child with an emotionally important person) or negative modeling (the child rejects the behavior of an emotionally important person). Some symptoms describe both normal and neurotic perfectionists, but neurotic perfectionists experience them with greater intensity and for a longer duration. Four specific goals are stated which have proven useful in helping clients to change their neurotic perfectionism.

Английский

Psychology. – 1978. – Vol. 15, № 1. – P. 27–33.