Does perfectionism cause problems for scientists?

[Daniel]

Just wondering if there's a perfect career match for intj perfectionists. Most online reference do suggest intj's are best suited for science.

[Zilal]

Well, I dunno, that's kind of a funny question... no more than it would cause problems for any other profession, I'd think. The main problems with perfectionism are tending to take too long on a project and tending to be frustrated with things not matching up to your ideal. Whether it's a problem for you really depends on exactly how long you're taking to finish things and how frustrated you're getting when things aren't ideal. These tendencies are manageable for me... I do need to work a little bit on my time management, but I deal pretty well with the disappointments of research not going the way I hoped or teammates mucking up... I mean contributing to... a project.

[Hdier]

I think that, while it would most definately have many minuses, it would have more plusses than most other proffesions. For example, if you were doing an experimant, then perfectionism could cause you to control a previously uncontrolled variable, possibly causing a connection to be made.

[Daniel]

Well, I dunno, that's kind of a funny question... no more than it would cause problems for any other profession, I'd think. The main problems with perfectionism are tending to take too long on a project and tending to be frustrated with things not matching up to your ideal. Whether it's a problem for you really depends on exactly how long you're taking to finish things and how frustrated you're getting when things aren't ideal. These tendencies are manageable for me... I do need to work a little bit on my time management, but I deal pretty well with the disappointments of research not going the way I hoped or teammates mucking up... I mean contributing to... a project.

I have this illusion that time is not important in scientific research and you, as a perfectionist, can go very deep into analyzing a specific subject and finding something new.

[Zilal]

I have this illusion that time is not important in scientific research and you, as a perfectionist, can go very deep into analyzing a specific subject and finding something new.

I suppose it depends what it is. You could spend your whole life researching a certain topic. But the telescope time allotted to you may run out, or the grant money for a particular project may run out, or the weather may get cold or whatever.

[Drayakir]

You need to be a perfectionist, true, because that means your experiments/paper/procedures are likely to be greater than the standard, but you also have deadlines to meet, so you need to hurry. I mean, you can omit some things when doing an analysis, and it probably won't hurt you, and you'll be able to finish earlier- but on the other hand, you might miss that crucial bit of data that you glossed over.

[xhaan]

Yes, it's a double edged sword, it can both help you and hurt you.
Not only with meeting deadlines, but there is also the risk of burnout.
I think perfectionism can be more suited to some leadership roles, but even there it can cause problems, for anyone, not just particular types or particular jobs.

I have found that perfectionism kills me in my jobs, not in the sense of meeting deadlines, I can usually work out what can be left as passible before the deadline and concentrate on what actually needs the work more before completion... but I still feel overworked and pressed for time, I feel like my true vision cannot be realized, and I burn out from the pressure.