Up: [[Compulsion]] Created: 2025-07-09 Updated: 2026-04-02 ### Defining Perfectionism In the absence of a standardized definition for perfectionism, I’m opting for a simple paraphrase of Katherine Morgan Schafler’s definition. **A perfectionist is someone who is acutely aware of the gap between real and ideal, and feels compelled to close it.** There are two important pieces to this definition: being constantly aware of the gap in any areas of life that are important to us, and feeling a compulsion to close the gap. ### Forms of Perfectionism The form of perfectionism varies with context. It can take any of these forms: - Emotional — I want to experience a perfect emotional state. - Cognitive — I want to understand perfectly. - Behavioural — I want to perfectly behave and perform tasks in x role(s). - Object — I want this external thing — art, my home, my body, the presentation deck — to exist in a perfect state. - Process — I want this process — a relationship, giving a presentation — to begin, continue, and end perfectly. > [!user] Katherine Morgan Schafler in *The Perfectionist's Guide to Losing Control*, pp. 81-82