OBSESSIVE PERSONALITY: 10 OBSERVABLE COMMON TRAITS - GEOGRAFÍA - 2025

The obsessive personality constitutes a way of being that is characterized by rigidity, inflexibility and the constant search for perfectionism. This way of being can be normal, although in most cases it ends up being a pathological condition.

The fact that determines that the obsessive personality is normal or pathological lies in the intensity of the obsessive degrees that the person presents, as well as the consequences on their own functioning and well-being.

In general, obsessive people are characterized by being very demanding both with themselves and with others. They pay high attention to detail and need everything to be in a perfect state in order to experience well-being.

This factor makes individuals with obsessive personalities much more vulnerable to depression. The external factors that can cause you discomfort are much more numerous than normal due to the obsession, which is why you can experience frustration more easily.

Obsessive personality: main traits

1- Perfectionism and thoroughness

Possibly the most defining trait of the obsessive personality is perfectionism and thoroughness. In fact, these two aspects are key in this type of personality.

The way of being obsessive is mainly determined by the perfection of things. People with this type of personality focus their attention on each and every detail, both in their environment and in themselves.

This fact is motivated in large part by the structure of thought that determines the obsessive personality. This is highly structured and inflexible, so that no element can leave the mental categorization of the individual.

In fact, the perfectionism and meticulousness of the obsessive personality is interpreted as a deficit of adaptation of the person. This is incapable of adapting to those elements that are contrary to its psychic order, so that every detail, however insignificant it may be, takes on a high importance.

Likewise, perfectionism and meticulousness tend to be elements that involve a high expenditure of time and effort on the part of obsessive people.

Individuals with these types of traits can spend much of the day organizing tasks and creating schedules and / or lists of things to do, to the point that the main objective of the activity is neglected.

Likewise, people with perfectionist traits strongly believe that everything must be perfect and that there is no margin for error. This means that, in many cases, people are not able to finish tasks or projects, since they are unable to meet its extremely rigid and perfectionistic demands.

2- Tendency to dichotomy

The perfectionism and thoroughness typical of the obsessive personality lead to another of the important traits of this type of being: the tendency to dichotomy.

This element is characterized by providing extreme evaluations about things. In other words, they lead to a way of seeing things in black and white, where the gray scale that exists between the two assessments is imperceptible.

The tendency to dichotomy is closely related to perfectionism, due to the mental rigidity caused by the obsessive personality.

People with these types of traits are only capable of making two assessments: what fits rigid thinking structures and what does not.

For this reason, all those elements that are not thoroughly perfect for the obsessive mind are classified as negative, while only those aspects with high degrees of perfection are classified as positive or acceptable.

The tendency to dichotomy is thus another important factor that contributes to reducing the adaptability of individuals with obsessive personality.

4- Tendency to pessimism and frustration

The high attention paid to detail, as well as the tendency to interpret elements in a dichotomous way, make subjects with obsessive personality much more vulnerable to pessimism and frustration.

The standards of perfection typical of the obsessive personality are too high and demanding, so often both the internal and external elements are not adapted to personal demands.

This fact leads to the experimentation of frustration in a much more frequent way. For example, a person with an obsessive personality may experience heightened sensations when performing routine tasks such as cleaning or performing work activities.

The appearance of any detail classified by the individual as "imperfect" uncovers in the obsessive person feelings of failure and need to improve.

On the other hand, the high frequency with which "imperfect" elements are present in everyone's lives makes people with these types of traits also much more prone to pessimism.

In fact, according to several authors, the obsessive personality is the prelude to the depressive personality or mood disorders.

Individuals with these personality traits require much more quality of external elements than other people to develop a state of well-being, so negative emotions appear much more easily.

4- High degrees of responsibility

The obsessive personality is characterized by developing high degrees of responsibility in practically all areas of people's lives.

The individual feels responsible that everything must be done through the conditions of perfectionism developed in his structure of thought.

Obsessive people believe that everything has to be perfect and that the responsibility for making it or not being so falls on themselves. There is no margin of error in their performance and they operate continuously through high degrees of pressure.

This element usually motivates the appearance of high anxiety components on the person, as well as the development of a compulsive functioning that has, as its sole objective, to comply with the standards of perfection established by their obsessions.

5- High need for control

All the elements discussed so far regarding the obsessive personality lead to the development of a basic aspect that guides the conduct and behavior of people who present this way of being.

This element is control, or rather, the need to establish high control over all aspects and even over people.

Each of the details that appear in any of the obsessive person's life spheres (family, work, relational, etc.) must be completely controlled by the individual.

This need appears as a psychological tool to respond to all the self-demands presented by the individual with an obsessive personality.

In this way, the aspects that lack control generate nervousness and discomfort in the individual, since if he is not able to control it, he will hardly be able to provide perfection.

This factor can, in the most serious cases, have a very negative impact on the person's life. Subjects with an obsessive personality may lose friends or partners due to the high time they dedicate to work and the execution of control over all the elements.

People with this type of characteristic traits believe that they cannot take a day off as this can lead to a loss of control and quality in the tasks performed.

6- Hyper-demand with oneself and with others

The hyper-demand is one of the most important factors of the obsessive personality. However, it is necessary to bear in mind that this trait does not only apply to oneself, but also to others.

The main needs of an obsessive person are that everything presents a high degree of control, as well as perfect quality conditions.

In order to satisfy these needs, the individual has to be hyper-demanding with himself, since otherwise he will perceive that he does everything wrong and does nothing right (dichotomous thinking).

However, the need for perfection typical of the obsessive personality does not lie solely in its own activities, but also encompasses all aspects that are part of its environment.

For this reason, hyper-demand is also usually transferred to the people with whom it is related.

An individual with an obsessive personality will have a great deal of difficulty working with a partner who functions in a disorganized way or who does not take into account details in the same way that he does.

Likewise, an obsessive person may be totally incapable of living with a subject who is not extremely organized, since the appearance of the minimum disorder in the house will generate high feelings of discomfort.

7- Difficulty in making decisions

The obsessive personality is also characterized by generating, in most cases, a notable difficulty in decision-making.

This element is especially noticeable when the decision to be made does not present rules or conditions that precisely establish the way forward.

Individuals with obsessive personality guide all their behavior in standards of quality and validity, so they constantly require elements that determine the empirical demonstration that the decision is correct.

Thus, decision-making about issues that do not present precise rules becomes an activity that is beyond the control of the person. This fact usually generates discomfort and nervousness, as well as difficulty in choosing.

8- Search for recognition for the acts

Obsessive people develop a behavior focused on perfectionism, the visualization of details and the achievement of maximum quality indexes mainly to satisfy their own obsessive need.

However, for subjects who present this way of being, the development of meticulous perfectionism plays a vital role in their lives, which is why they are very important elements.

This fact leads to the need for others to also interpret the world in the same way that they do and, therefore, to express constant appreciation for the acts that have been carried out.

When an individual with an obsessive personality manages to classify one of his acts as perfect, he experiences high sensations of gratification and, like anyone who feels very satisfied with something, he expects the approval and recognition of others.

However, subjects with obsessive personality are unable to visualize and perceive other aspects such as the time invested in the development of the task, the degree of functionality that it has presented or the practical importance of the perfection achieved.

9- Inflexibility

The obsessive personality implies a high degree of inflexibility. In fact, the obsession is characterized by being totally inflexible and immovable.

In this way, subjects with these characteristic traits are unable to adapt to situations in which perfectionism is not important or adopt alternative points of view to their own.

On the other hand, the obsessive personality usually implies a high difficulty to detect the needs of others, as well as their thought processes, their priorities or their needs.

Perfection and obsession take over a good part of the daily functioning of the subject, who can hardly put aside his needs to focus his attention on other types of aspects.

Likewise, subjects with obsessive personality can become uncomfortable when they have to interact with other people who openly express their emotions and have a more outgoing way of being.

These aspects reduce the seriousness and formality of the relationship and, therefore, are not adapted to the typical thought processes of the obsessive personality.

10- Inability to delegate

Finally, subjects with obsessive personality are characterized by a marked inability to delegate to others.

The activities carried out by oneself must be carried out with the highest degree of control and quality possible.

The fact of delegating implies, automatically, a decrease in the ability to control the task, which is why obsessive people tend to resist this type of situation.

References

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