Title: Cognitive Rigidity: The 8-Ball from Hell | Psychology Today
Headings: Cognitive Rigidity: The 8-Ball from Hell
James Coplan MD
Cognitive Rigidity: The 8-Ball from Hell
Cognitive rigidity is one element in a suite of challenging traits.

Content: In that sense, “Internalizing behaviors” are more a state of mind rather than a behavior. But we are stuck with the term.) In the upper box (“Externalizing Behaviors”) we find insistently repetitious behavior, difficulty with unmet expectations, perfectionism, compulsions, and perseveration. In parentheses, I’ve listed Agitation, Aggression, and Self-Injurious Behavior (“SIB”). I’ve put these in parentheses because they are not direct expressions of Cognitive Rigidity. Rather, they are the downstream consequences that arise if a person with Cognitive Rigidity is not able to fulfill his or her rigidly held expectations. article continues after advertisement
In the lower box, I’ve listed the “Internalizing Behaviors” that usually accompany cognitive rigidity. Notice that I’ve listed “Perfectionism” in both the upper and lower boxes. That’s not a mistake. Rather, it’s to emphasize that perfectionism qualifies as an externalizing behavior when we see its visible manifestations (relentless hand-washing in someone with OCD, for example), as well as an internalizing behavior (the overwhelming need to get things “just right”).