Phenomenon of perfection in the professional activity of a college teacher

The article deals with the current state of the problem of the phenomenon of perfectionism in the works of foreign and domestic psychologists. A single position towards the understanding of nature, features of formation and typology of perfectionism at the moment does not exist. A significant contribution to the development of this problem was made by psychologists of different spheres. Psychoanalysis considers perfectionism as a trait that characterizes narcissistic or neurotic personality. Cognitive psychology aims to identify the reasons of perfectionism in false judgements. Meanwhile behavioral psychology connects the phenomenon under investigation with positive and negative refreshment. Perfectionism (from the Latin perfectio - perfection) in a broad sense can be described as a person's desire for excellence and observing extremely high standards in activity. The article deals with the structure and different types of this phenomenon. Research that was carried out with the help of scientific resources proves the existence of various forms and varieties of perfectionism: constructive and destructive, normal and neurotic, adaptive and disadaptive, active and passive, healthy and pathological. Such characteristics of perfectionism including self-actualization, motivation achievement and self-reliance that contribute to the favorable flow of self-improvement of teachers were highlighted in the article.It was shown that perfectionism and its separate components are positively connected with the motivation of achieving success under the absence of connection with the motivation to avoid failures and have negative connection with self-actualization and self-reliance. A healthy form of perfectionism that promotes the development of the personality, the disclosure of its abilities and creativity was considered in the article. But striving for excellence, which is typical for this form, may have bigger influence on activity, as former standards will become increasingly unattainable. This can lead to negative consequences such as chronic exhaustion and difficulties with attention concentration. We can conclude that perfectionism in the activity of teachers doesn't promote the full implementation in the field of their professional activities. Furthermore it doesn't act as a psychological resource for the development of personality and self-improvement.