overcarefulness
Overcarefulness is a tendency to be excessively cautious or meticulous, to the point that it hinders action or efficiency. It describes a propensity to overestimate risks, require many checks, or delay decisions to avoid potential mistakes. It can appear as a stable trait, a temporary state, or in specific domains such as work, health, or personal life. While carefulness is adaptive in uncertain situations, overcarefulness becomes problematic when the perceived costs of acting exceed the risks of inaction.
Manifestations include excessive checking or double-checking, overplanning, avoidance of commitments, seeking unnecessary reassurance, and extreme risk
Causes are multifaceted and can include anxiety, risk aversion, perfectionism, cognitive biases, past negative experiences, or
Impact varies by context. In safety-critical settings, heightened caution can reduce harm, but in most everyday
Management and mitigation focus on balancing caution with action. Approaches include risk-based decision making with explicit
See also: paralysis by analysis, risk aversion, perfectionism, anxiety disorders.