I use the term "perfectionism" to describe the space of behaviors around the traditional description. Like any generalization it can be expanded so much that it

I use the term "perfectionism" to describe the space of behaviors around the traditional description. Like any generalization it can be expanded so much that it includes everything. But what separates perfectionism from normal fallibility, to me, is the degree of identity investment in the outcome. Disappointment per se is not perfectionism. What makes it a tendency worth naming is the intensity of mental stress and self-recrimination that follows.