Healthy and neurotic perfectionism: how to strive for perfection without torturing yourself and others?


Pedantry

Pedantry
or
Pedantism
(Latin
paedagogans
-
teaching
, French
pédant
-
teacher
) is a personality quality that requires extreme precision and accuracy in any human actions; excessive tendency to comply with formal requirements, rules, etc.

External signs of pedantry are neatness, pettiness, adherence to routine in various aspects of life. It has several levels of manifestation in nature: from mild and rational to obsessively painful.

In some people, pedantry is of a very painful, obsessive nature, often associated with objective mental disorders, including neuroses.

Pedantry is businesslike, rational, completely (or almost completely) conscious, calculating. Such pedantry can be called part of a person’s life strategy. A person decides for himself that everything needs to be done to the highest possible quality, that this is a very useful habit and it will help him out more than once.

It seems difficult due to the nature of habits to separate the painful pedant (anankast) from the businesslike one. What distinguishes an anancast from a business pedant is mainly the nature of his experiences. Business people have few such experiences. Anankast (morbid pedant) with thoughts and feelings constantly returns to his obsessive thoughts and experiences.

Source

  • Pedantry

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General characteristics

A pedant and a perfectionist puts a lot of effort into making sure the result lives up to expectations.

Other similarities:

  • increased level of anxiety,
  • lack of flexibility, inability to adapt to dynamic conditions,
  • prolonged experience of a traumatic situation,
  • tendency to depression and nervous breakdowns.

Pedants and perfectionists have doubts about the correctness of their actions. The pedant rechecks the work many times before submitting it. A perfectionist usually asks for additional time to refine, improve, double-check, and worries that others will not appreciate his efforts.

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What is pedantry and how can it become a pathology?

We all have an idea of ​​what pedantry is. This is meticulous adherence to established rules and requirements to the point of pettiness. When we pronounce the word “pedant,” we imagine a neat, restrained and punctual person who carefully carries out his work and does not need outside control for this.

What is pedantry as a pathology

manic pedantry

Pedantry does not immediately manifest itself as a pathology: at first glance, this is simply a very meticulous person, accustomed to accuracy and order in everything. But over time, it becomes clear that the psychopathic pedant is simply not capable of making decisions. Taking the “last step”, moving from a theoretical solution to a problem to action, is an impossible task for him.

Showing manic pedantry, such a person double-checks the correctness of his conclusions a hundred times, even in cases where everything has been clear to a sane person for a long time. In psychiatry, such people, accustomed to chewing endless “mental cud,” are called anankastic-type personalities.

Before closing the front door behind you, Anankast will double check that all household appliances are turned off. And any housework will take him much longer than an ordinary person: after all, everything must be washed and wiped not just well, but perfectly. To do this, dishes are washed 2-3 times, rags are washed with soap, and everything is ironed, including socks.

What is pedantry in the workplace: is it so bad?

True, pedantic individuals, unlike anankasts, do not always show such meticulousness, and often their behavior remains quite acceptable to society. Such people in the workplace, as a rule, have a lot of advantages due to their seriousness, responsibility and ability to do an excellent job. Pedants are formalists, quibblers and “bores”, but not a single detail escapes their attention, they do not make hasty decisions and approach everything thoroughly. For this they are valued by their superiors and respected by their colleagues.

What is pedantry that has turned into a state of obsession?

Pedantry can cause damage only when it is supported by neuroses, that is, it acquires a painful character. In such cases, anxiety and inability to make a final decision are especially acute. Checking dozens of times whether the assigned work has been done well enough, the anankast cannot decide for itself that it has already been completed. He begins to noticeably lag behind his colleagues, which forces him to work overtime, plunging deeper into the abyss of uncertainty about the results of his activities.

Anankasts are characterized by hypochondriacal experiences, suspiciousness, and anxiety. Moreover, in people susceptible to such a pathological condition, the listed fears take on a bizarre character: the anankast is not afraid of death from any disease, he is afraid of being afraid of this death. What is inherent in him is not the fear of being robbed, but the fear of being robbed, etc.

This leads to a lot of “counteractions,” rituals that should protect the anancaste from obsessions. At the same time, he understands the absurdity of what is happening, but he cannot do anything about it. In advanced states, anankasm develops into manic-depressive pedantry, manifested by paroxysmal manifestations of painful pedantry, reaching the point of complete inability to engage in any type of activity and, accordingly, causing a feeling of powerlessness and severe depression in the patient.

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Afterword

Pedantry becomes a problem when it goes beyond the rational, that is, it transforms into obsessions or a systematic lack of time. Irrational pedantry, in turn, turns into a syndrome of obsessive states, for example, a person arranges books strictly from high to low, places shoes in one line.

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Rational pedantry does not interfere with life and is a useful habit. A person decides for himself (gives an instruction) that, for example, at work he will strictly adhere to all the rules and double-check documents. And at home with friends, the same person will easily forget to wash his hands or brush his teeth, and the dust will lie on the closet for another day if the rational pedant is very tired at work.

If a person is prone to pedantry (and such is 20% of the population), then the emerging problem will never completely go away. You need to learn to apply yourself in relevant areas. Pedantry is not a problem, but a personality trait that is in demand in design, construction, editing, etc.

Watch the video about the pedantic personality type (from 9:26 minutes):

What does Pedantry mean?

Lynx

PEDANT m. (pedant woman) - French. - a strict, precise, picky petty person who demands adherence to appearances, roundaboutness, and order in business; a heavy and stubborn follower of the once accepted, one-sided order; a self-confident scientist who inappropriately demands from everyone the same view as himself; student, scientist. /according to Dahl/

Tiger

So when they stopped you on the highway, introduced themselves in full form, checked your license, told you about your violations, told you about your rights, issued you a ticket, took you on your way and didn’t take anything - this is not pedantry, these are just the first signs...

Oops!

this means scrupulous (precise in detail) execution of simple and complex actions. always the same in the little things. Such a pedant is the people. and you observe yourself and discover this pedantry in yourself.

Differences between concepts

There is a difference between the concepts. The main differences between a perfectionist and a pedant:

  1. A pedant follows his principles. A perfectionist demands perfect performance from others.
  2. Pedantic individuals are more conservative. It is important for them to maintain cleanliness and order, and to feel stability. For a perfectionist, the main thing is moving forward and constant personal growth.
  3. Pedants try to achieve success in small tasks. It is easier for them to implement a small project. Perfectionists take on difficult tasks that require a long time to complete. They accept it as a challenge, but the result from implementing a large project is much better.

A pedantic person has little interest in the attitude of other people.

Perfectionists differ from pedants in their assessment of results. The former are influenced by praise or criticism, recognition by society.

Pedants are less dependent on public opinion. They do not compare themselves with others, but evaluate themselves in accordance with their internal beliefs.

The difference between the two concepts is that a pedant should always have perfect order: the cup should be in place, all the books should be in a certain order, the document should be without corrections or edits. For a perfectionist, it is important that the information is structured, has logic and correct sequence, and has no errors.

Who is a pedant?

Pedant - who is this? What are the features of his behavior?

Kainen

Pedant is a teacher, mentor (usually strict and meticulous) one who is overly strict and meticulously meticulous in fulfilling all formal requirements. A person who keeps cleanliness does everything perfectly and immaculately, the example that comes to mind is the hero from the film the carrier, who was also named by a police officer, since everything in his house was well-groomed, all the flowers were watered, there was not a single speck of dust and his work was done perfectly, without the slightest defect

Tatty

A pedant is a person who is distinguished by increased accuracy and meticulousness, the desire to comply with all rules and requirements.

Pedants tend to attach importance to any small and insignificant details and conscientiously carry out their work or task. For representatives of some professions, pedantry is a very important quality, for example, for accountants. Pedantry can manifest itself in everyday life, for example, in the desire to create perfect order in the home, put things in their places, live in a certain regime and try never to break it, since disorder can cause severe discomfort to the pedant.

Excessive pedantry may be associated with mental illness.

Julia76

A pedant is a person who lives by certain rules that he has adopted for himself independently and strictly observes them not only himself, but also demands strict adherence to them from those around him. His main qualities are: accuracy, scrupulousness, adherence to instructions and directions, the habit of living in strict order. For a pedant, the main thing is to remain satisfied with himself, his actions, his activities, regardless of the fact that his behavior seems a little strange to those around him. But pedantry is not always a negative character trait. You just need to not go too far in performing any task or in your attitude towards others.

Tiffi25

Pedants are very attentive to detail, bringing every little detail in a big matter to an ideal state. They feel good only when everything is done as they intended. They break a big task into parts and bring it to perfection. They can be very boring and can pester other people to behave the same way.

Pozitin

Pedant - comes from the French word. And it has a translation as, teacher, mentor.

Those. a pedant is a person who observes every little detail in certain moments, for example, in behavior, in statements, in speech.

Those. A pedant is a very neat person in everything.

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Etymology

The word “pedant” was originally formed in the Italian language, but where exactly it was borrowed is still unclear. Although several dictionaries suggest that it comes from the Latin "pædagogans", the present participle " pædagogare
" is translated as "to act as an educator, to teach". The Latin word comes from the Greek παιδαγωγός, paidagōgós, παιδ- "child" + ἀγειν", originally referring to a slave who accompanied children to and from school, but later meaning "a source of instruction or guidance".

The term in Russian is usually used with a negative connotation to refer to someone who is overly concerned with small things and whose tone is condescending. Thomas Nashe wrote in "With Thee" (1596), p. 43: "Oh, this precious apothegmatic [piebald] Pedant

, who will find matter in order to develop the whole day of the first invention." However, when the word was first used by Beale Shakespeare in Love's Labor Lost (1598), it simply meant "teacher".

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