The Myth of Perfection: Perfectionism in the Obsessive Personality

This paper discusses the structure and function of the trait of perfectionism within the obsessive personality, and how it dovetails with other features of that style. The author proposes a nuclear adaptive/defensive “myth of perfection” and delineates the phenomenology and clinical presentations of four problematic aspects of perfectionism: inhibitions, over concern with thoroughness and details, difficulty with decisions and commitments, and pickiness. The paper also discusses how several aspects of the obsessive style can present typical difficulties in doing therapy with perfectionists.