[bbwbsb]

People with obsessive tendencies may believe (less than consciously) that avoiding mistakes is the only way they can be loved but that it is okay because they can become perfect 'eventually' with enough work. Finishing a project induces anxiety because it means admitting (to themselves) that it is the best they can do. On team projects this may manifest as hostility towards declaring anything done, criticism of acceptable work of teammates as shoddy, excessive work hours, not finishing things they work on, constantly blowing past deadlines, preoccupation with organizational tools and techniques, etc.

It seems like it is about logic, rationality, being optimal, etc., at the surface, but it is fundamentally an emotional reaction (fear) accentuated by a blindspot as to how their emotions affect them. People with these tendencies frequently declare that they are completely rational and not at all driven by emotion, which is due to the blindspot (often denial to maintain the fantasy of becoming perfect so that they can be loved).

In short, if children are only loved in highly conditional ways they may learn that they have to be good enough to be loved, and as adults not get anything done because the terror of not being good enough means they cannot accept their own work as good enough.

[agumonkey]

There are other factors at play to be honest.

You live through education system that requires you to perform.

You dont get a dev job just because you showed up. You get tested, even after long hard studies.

So obviously you're shaped for achieving high.

I'd add that some people also thrive under duress. It personally love challenges, so perfectionism is a small step.

So what should we do in this field? Coast along and avoid any complexity?

Coming from min wage jobs you also struggle to reconciliate those facts.

[ein0p]

As a more “psychological” take, yes this rings true, too. Academic overachievers (I count myself among them, FWIW) are especially prone to this because they condition their self esteem on their ability to “succeed”. It’s a lot harder to succeed at things where you are less confident.