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Symmetry, ordering and arranging compulsive behaviour
1Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. adam.radomsky@concordia.ca
Behaviour Research and Therapy
|June 5, 2004
Summary
People with a strong preference for order experience more anxiety in disorganized environments, suggesting compulsive ordering in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may be an extreme form of a common trait.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) features include compulsive ordering, arranging, and symmetry preoccupation, which lack experimental examination.
- Understanding these specific OCD symptoms is crucial for diagnosis and treatment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally investigate compulsive ordering, arranging, and symmetry preferences in relation to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
- To develop and validate a self-report measure for these specific behaviors.
- To assess the impact of environmental disorganization on task performance in individuals with varying order preferences.
Main Methods:
- Development and validation of a self-report measure for compulsive ordering and symmetry behaviors.
- Experimental tasks assessing preferences for order.
- Assessment of task interference due to environmental disorganization under stress.
Main Results:
- The developed self-report measure demonstrated sound psychometric properties and validity.
- Individuals with a high preference for order experienced increased anxiety when performing a stressful task in a disorganized environment.
- No significant anxiety increase was observed in participants with lower order preferences.
Conclusions:
- Compulsive ordering and symmetry drives in OCD may represent extreme expressions of common preferences for order and symmetry.
- The findings contribute to understanding the phenomenology of compulsive ordering and its connection to both OCD and normative behavior.