For those who choose performance, the pressure to perform perfectly is everything. It’s sort of like how, when people are lying, they often add so many details to their false stories because the lie doesn’t sound true in their own heads. Maladaptive perfectionism operates in the same way. The perfectionist feels they’re telling a lie—they’re only pretending to be worthy, so they better get their story straight. They better perform perfectly because any holes in their story will reveal their deception.
