The stories of popular fictional characters are often filled with adventures and challenges intended to entertain the audience. At the same time, their authors mimic real life, exploring internal and external conflicts people face. Thus, such characters are suitable candidates for practicing psychoanalysis – especially if a person displayed has exaggerated personality traits. In the television series Parks and Recreation, Leslie Knope is the protagonist of the story. Although a headstrong and highly motivated woman, she also shows some signs of anxiety and workaholism. This essay explores the maladaptive behavior of Leslie Knope using theories by Horney and Adler.
Demographics
Leslie Knope is the main character of a comedy TV series Parks and Recreation. At the start of the show, she is in her 30s, and she works as a Deputy Director of the Pawnee City Department of Parks and Recreation, a middle bureaucratic position in the local government (“Leslie Knope,” 2020). Leslie is a white woman born and raised in Pawnee, Indiana. It is notable that, although she later moves to Washington D.C. due to her career advancement, she spends most of her life in her hometown of Pawnee and is hesitant to relocate.
History
The show reveals some moments from Leslie’s childhood and adolescence, as well as her past and present relationship with her family. When Leslie was ten, her father passed away, and her mother never had any other serious relationships and raised her daughter alone. The personality of Leslie’s mother, Marlene Griggs-Knope, is crucial for this discussion. She is a politician in Pawnee, who holds a higher position than Leslie (“Leslie Knope,” 2020). Marlene is ambitious, tough, shrewd, and demanding – other bureaucrats widely know her as unyielding and even unsympathetic (“Leslie Knope,” 2020). Her limited interactions with her daughter and strictly professional demeanor also show a potential problem of being distant. Leslie expresses several times that she wants to impress her mother through her professional achievements and that she is scared of her judgment.
Leslie’s academic and job performance expose her as an overachiever. She participated in a variety of clubs, founding and leading several of them. Simultaneously, she graduated high school and university at the top of her class and summa cum laude, respectively. Leslie frequently “pulls all-nighters” to finish projects and loses sleep because of work- and friend-related issues. Her romantic life is full of negative experiences as well, according to Leslie’s own recollection – her partners ended most of her relationships. Nonetheless, she remains extremely optimistic, energetic, and cheerful, spending all of her energy on helping others.
Presenting Problem
As can be seen, Leslie has a history of successful academic performance and career development. Nevertheless, these achievements are often reached through overworking and mental and physical exhaustion. To begin with, Leslie’s thoughts tie her success to her self-worth, which makes her view overworking as a necessary part of a happy existence. She believes that every project and task should be performed flawlessly, which leads to her obsessing over each small detail. These ideas are closely related to the fear of failure in the character’s mind, creating a black-and-white perspective of the world.
Leslie puts in long hours at the office and outside of it and loses sleep over projects. Her desire for perfectionism in each task reaches the level of obsession. Leslies once left hospital bed and escaped medical care to deliver a speech, although she was on medication that made her delirious (“Leslie Knope,” 2020). Another vital detail is her coping mechanisms for stressful situations. Leslie’s fear of failure related to work and personal relationships leads her to work more or to eat dessert foods (mostly waffles and whipped cream).
These fears and behaviors suggest that Leslie has a work addiction and some symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder. In most cases, these problems have a negative impact on the person’s mental and physical health as well as their relationships and performance (Andreassen, Griffiths, Sinha, Hetland, & Pallesen, 2016). First, Leslie’s physical health may be damaged due to the amount of work she does, while neglecting sleep and a healthy diet. Second, she seems to respond to stress by putting more pressure on herself, which can result in burnout, more substantial anxiety, and negative moods. Finally, she may distance her friends and loved ones if she fails to balance work and personal life.
Analysis of the Problem
One theory, introduced by Horney, connects the person’s feelings of inferiority to the lack of parental affection. According to the psychiatrist, perfectionism stems “from controlling and demanding parents” (Ko, Hewitt, Cox, Flett, & Chen, 2019, p. 109474). In this case, the parent’s love becomes tied to children’s performance and adherence to the expected ideal. Leslie’s childhood, as well as her present fear of her mother’s disapproval, align with this idea. Horney’s theory suggests that Leslie’s work addiction and her anxiety over work-related issues are connected to her mother’s lack of attention and her strict and distant parenting style. Moreover, Horney posed that stress is related to one’s perceived inability to satisfy essential needs (Pervichko, Babaev, Podstreshnaya, & Zinchenko, 2020, p. 25). Leslie may feel as though she cannot reach her full potential or satisfy the needs of others if she does not overwork.
Alternative Analysis of the Problem
Another view of work addiction and anxiety is presented in the theories of Adler. He believed that the distinction should be made between adaptive and maladaptive perfectionists. The first group is defined by their desire to achieve goals for society and set realistic goals (Čerkez & Efendić-Spahić, 2016). In contrast, maladaptive perfectionists want to reach unrealistic objectives and are motivated only by their individual success (Čerkez & Efendić-Spahić, 2016). Using this definition, one may suggest that Leslie’s perfectionism is positive – she is motivated by helping the community and her friends, although her goals are often difficult to reach. Adler’s explanation of anxiety lies in people’s wish to avoid responsibility or failure. Leslie assumes responsibility but is afraid of being unsuccessful, which can explain some of her maladaptive behaviors.
Conclusion
The character of Leslie Knope is an example of a woman whose sincere wish to help others exacerbated her work addiction and anxiety. According to Horney’s theory, the symptoms of these conditions can be linked to Leslie’s childhood. Her mother’s demanding parenting style made Leslie believe that her worth is equated to her academic and job performance. Adler’s theory suggests that Leslie’s perfectionism can be interpreted as positive, but it does not make connections to her anxiety or coping mechanisms. Overall, Leslie has some problems with overworking, and she could benefit from therapy, discussing her reliance on labor, dismissal of personal needs, and need for parental approval.
References
Andreassen, C. S., Griffiths, M. D., Sinha, R., Hetland, J., & Pallesen, S. (2016). The relationships between workaholism and symptoms of psychiatric disorders: A large-scale cross-sectional study. PLoS One, 11(5), e0152978. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0152978.
Čerkez, V. Ć., & Efendić-Spahić, T. (2016). Perfectionism at younger adolescents: Associations with different aspects of anxiety. Human: Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies, 6(1), 70-80.
Ko, A., Hewitt, P. L., Cox, D., Flett, G. L., & Chen, C. (2019). Adverse parenting and perfectionism: A test of the mediating effects of attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, and perceived defectiveness. Personality and Individual Differences, 150, 109474. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2019.06.017.
Leslie Knope. (2020).
Pervichko, E. I., Babaev, Y. A., Podstreshnaya, A. K., & Zinchenko, Y. P. (2020). Motivational conflicts and the psychological structure of perfectionism in patients with anxiety disorders and patients with essential hypertension. Behavioral Sciences, 10(1), 25. doi:10.3390/bs10010025.