Biting nails, tearing skin or hair would be a behavioral disorder that would reveal people’s perfectionism, according to Canadian researchers.
Scientists from the University of Montreal (Canada) carried out a behavioral study with 48 volunteers, 24 of whom suffered from repetitive behaviors such as nail biting. Participants answered a questionnaire to assess their emotions, including boredom, anger, guilt, irritability and anxiety. Then, they suffered 4 situations that caused stressa desire for relaxation, frustration and boredom.
“Compulsively pulling out hair (trichotillomania), skin (dermatillomania) or nail biting (onychophagia), are part of what is known as body-focused repetitive behaviors. Although these behaviors can lead to a significant feeling of distress, they also seem to satisfy an impulse and offer some form of personal reward,” explains Kieron O’Connor, psychologist from the University of Montreal and co-author of the study. “We believe that these individuals (…) are possibly perfectionists, which means that they are unable to relax and perform tasks at a normal pace. Therefore, they are more vulnerable to frustration, impatience and dissatisfaction when they do not achieve their goals. They also experience higher levels of boredom.”
The results of the study reveal that people who bite their nails are unable to perform a task simply and relax. Moreover, boredom and frustration increase their compulsive behavior.
“These results partially support our hypothesis that participants are more likely to use repetitive body-focused behaviors when bored, frustrated, or experiencing dissatisfaction than when feeling calm. explains Dr. Sarah Roberts, psychologist and lead author of the study.
“These findings suggest that individuals suffering from repetitive body-focused behaviors may benefit from treatments aimed at reducing frustration and boredom and altering beliefs of perfectionism.”
Read also:
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What your nails say about your health
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