PERSONALITY-TRAITS IN SUBCLINICAL AND NON-OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE VOLUNTEERS AND THEIR PARENTS

Theorists from a variety of perspectives have asserted that obsessive compulsives are more risk-aversive, perfectionistic and guilt-ridden t han non-obsessive compulsives, and that these characteristics are cent ral features of the disorder. Furthermore, several have hypothesized t hat the parents of obsessive compulsives are characterized by risk-ave rsion, perfectionism. and high levels of criticism. Little research ex ists which corroborates these hypotheses, however. The present investi gation examined these hypotheses among subclinical obsessive compulsiv es. In two different samples. subclinical obsessive compulsives were f ound to be more risk-aversive, perfectionistic, and guilt-ridden. Subc linical obsessive compulsives also perceived their parents to be more overprotective. The findings regarding other parental traits were less clear. There was some support for the hypothesis that the parents of subclinical obsessive compulsives are more risk-aversive, and that fat hers are more critical and perfectionistic.