What Is The Relationship Between Perfectionism And Anxiety At Work?
Being a perfectionist at work to a certain extent does not have to be negative, since being a bit perfectionist we tend to seek to perform our tasks in the best possible way, seeking efficiency. The problem comes when this perfectionism exceeds certain limits and we begin to worry about unimportant details that will make us spend more time than necessary.
The relationship between perfectionism and anxiety at work has been reflected in various aspects within this area that is so important for people’s lives, such as through the fear of failing in a work project, constant self-criticism, comparisons with other co-workers and even have a greater propensity to develop burnout syndrome at work, among others.
In this article we will talk about the relationship between perfectionism and anxiety at work and what are the repercussions it would have on the lives of people who are excessively perfectionist in their work.
This is how perfectionism and anxiety are related in the workplace
There are recent studies that have considered that excessive perfectionism, known as dysfunctional perfectionism or also clinical perfectionism, is a transdiagnostic process. This personality variable is characterized by the need that causes the person to constantly strive to reach fairly high standards in terms of their performance and all the tasks they perform; which can cause various problems at different levels (e.g., health, family balance, work, etc.).
At the same time, It is common for a perfectionist person to also be excessively critical of what they do, so you tend to worry about every nuance of any task you perform, even if the consequences of paying attention to every detail and having too high standards are negative. Furthermore, it is normally the perishable people themselves who impose these high demands on themselves and find it difficult to lower the bar, allowing themselves to slow down the pace of work or not taking such careful care of all the details.
Various research carried out with highly perfectionistic people has found a high correlation between perfectionism and anxiety at work, as well as in other areas of their life. Among the anxiety-related disorders that have been found to have the most correlation with dysfunctional perfectionism and anxiety are obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), social anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder and a correlation has also been found with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
As we will see below, having a very high degree of perfectionism, Contrary to what it may seem, it is not going to make us the best at our job at least in the long term, since in the long run it will cause a high number of symptoms of anxiety, stress and even low self-actualization, which could trigger serious repercussions on mental health.
Therefore, it is more convenient that we seek to be more efficient in our work than perfectionists, choosing to complete our tasks successfully, but within reasonable margins in terms of workload and attention to detail.
Repercussions of perfectionism at work level
There is research regarding the relationship between perfectionism and anxiety at work that shows that being excessively perfectionist could bring with it a series of negative consequences at work, such as those that we will explain below.
1. Fear that projects will not go as expected and difficulties in completing them
Within the existing relationship between perfectionism and anxiety at work, we can see that highly perfectionistic people tend to suffer a series of symptoms related to anxiety due to afraid that their projects will not turn out the way they expect one of the main causes being the high bar to which they tend to aspire.
In this sense, it is also common to experience certain difficulties in completing each work project because they always find some nuance that needs to be corrected, so they are never completely satisfied with the final result, which could cause even more anxiety. For this reason, they often work more hours than necessary to complete tasks that could have been done in less time.
It would be more advisable to seek efficiency than perfection and try to have all our tasks at 80% of our possibilities. wasting too much time on details without much importance when polishing and improving a task 100%, neglecting the rest so that we need more time than necessary to complete them all.
2. Fear of not living up to self-required standards
The relationship between perfectionism and anxiety at work could also be given by the fear that excessively perfectionist people have of not achieving remarkably high results that they tend to demand from themselves in everything that concerns their work performance and also that of those they are working on. around it.
It is common for people with dysfunctional perfectionism at work tend to experience fear of failure so they sometimes see each challenge as a possible opportunity to fail instead of a challenge to do things well and be satisfied with the effort expended.
It is also common that they have met the expectations that their colleagues and/or bosses had regarding the work that these people had to perform but, being such perfectionists, they think that they have not lived up to it.
3. Constant self-criticism
Constant self-criticism would be another of the characteristics that demonstrate the relationship between perfectionism and anxiety at work; And people who are very perfectionists always find fault in everything they do, being very hard on themselves.
On many occasions, this dynamic could trigger these people to feel worried about some detail of their performance at work that has not gone as expected, so They will tend to feel frustrated rather than happy for having done a great job globally.
4. Comparisons and conflicts with co-workers
People who are very perfectionists may also have a tendency to compare themselves with their coworkers and focus especially on those who they consider perform better in their work, although this could be totally subjective, generating frustration and insecurities and fear of not being good enough at their job, which is framed within the characteristics that demonstrate the relationship between perfectionism and anxiety at work.
Another of the most important aspects of perfectionist people that demonstrates the relationship between perfectionism and anxiety at work is the intolerance of uncertainty generated in them by not being able to predict the results of their tasks and projects in their workplace, thus So they tend to feel certain fears in the form of negative thoughts related to failure because those projects are not going to turn out well.
On the other hand, this low tolerance for uncertainty and negative thoughts about possible results that are not going to turn out as expected may be related to the need to have everything under control to meet those high standards that they demand of themselves in all their tasks, which generates a lot of anxiety.
6. Burnout syndrome
Burnout syndrome or “burned out worker syndrome” is characterized by extreme physical and mental decline, and also due to the fact of having a feeling of dissatisfaction with the functions performed at work; There may also be a feeling of depersonalization, which is characterized by a feeling of being distanced from other co-workers.
A highly perfectionist person who always wants to obtain excellent results, having to dedicate too much effort, may end up reaching the limit and developing burnout syndrome.
7. Behavior that is too rigid
People who are more perfectionists than necessary tend to be very strict in their job, so that they end up having too rigid behavior, which is why they do not allow themselves to be flexible at all in the performance of their tasks, which is why they don’t leave room for creativity although this could be very useful in order to improve or innovate in your projects and make their results more positive.
This very rigid behavior can cause them serious difficulties when something unforeseen arises, such as a change in guidelines in the project their company is embarking on, so it will be difficult for them to adapt to these changes and they could feel anxious. From what we can see, rigid behavior is another of the characteristics that demonstrate the relationship between perfectionism and anxiety at work.
