Perfectionism as the Basis for Chronic Defensiveness

Key points

Chronic defensiveness entails the compulsive redirection of shame onto others.

Perfectionists often deflect blame, minimize, and deny in order to protect their self-esteem.

Shifting the focus to one's character may help alleviate the need to constantly defend oneself.

Perfectionists tend to protect their self-image at almost any cost. They often sacrifice others, and thus their relationships, to continue to feel good about themselves, or at least not bad. This tendency manifests in defensiveness, or the chronic pattern of defending oneself without reasonable forethought. Whereas defending oneself can be helpful, especially if one is unjustifiably accused, perfectionists, like with much else they do, take this method to an extreme point. Fundamentally, chronic defensivenes