( 2 ) identified eight dimensions of perfectionism , which are as follows , concern over mistakes , high standards for others , need for approval , organization , parental pressure , planfulness , rumination , and striving for excellence . in this approach , perfectionism is comparable in the context of the previous adaptive ( positive ) and maladaptive ( negative ) aspects of perfectionism and makes a clearer distinction between adaptive and maladaptive aspects . positive perfectionism consists of organization , planfulness , striving for excellence and high standards for others aspects , whereas negative perfectionism consists of the need for approval , concern over mistakes , parental pressure and rumination . at the clinical level , obsessive - compulsive disorder ( ocd ) is characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness , apprehension , fear , or worry , by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing the associated anxiety , or by a combination of such obsessions and compulsions . eating disorders refer to a group of conditions defined by abnormal eating features that include bulimia nervosa ( bn ) and anorexia nervosa ( an ) that are characterized by preoccupation with food and body weight ( 3 ) . in the earliest descriptions about eating disorders , obsessive - compulsive symptoms have been described as part of these disorders ( 4 ) . the possibility of a relationship between ocd and an was first suggested by palmer and jones ( 5 ) . early descriptive studies suggested that 50% to 100% of patients with an showed obsessive or compulsive features ( 5 ) . however , at the time these studies were conducted , the distinction between obsessive - compulsive traits and ocd had not been established , hence they tended to include traits ( such as perfectionism ) as well as behaviors such as obsessions and compulsions as evidence of  obsessive - compulsive difficulties  . for example , kaye et al . ( 6 ) administered the yale - brown obsessive - compulsive scale ( y - bocs ) to 19 patients with an and showed that their mean y - bocs score was 22 , similar to the score reported for patients with ocd . moreover , researchers ( 7 , 8) have reported that approximately 25% to 69% of patients with an will develop some characteristics of obsessive - compulsive disorder . studies that have compared rates of ocd in an and bn have usually found higher comorbidity in an ( 9 , 10 ) . both reported high rates of disordered eating behaviors and attitudes as evidenced by increased scores on both the eating disorders inventory and the eating attitudes test ( 11 , 12 ) . however , diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders , 4th , text revised ( dsm - iv - tr ) has identified clear valuable ideas about thinness as a diagnostic feature of this disorder ( 3 ) . these valuable ideas about weight and food serve as obsession that comes with ritual behavior that are normally observed in anorexia nervosa , and may have some overlaps with ocd . therefore , the two categories of eating disorders and obsessive - compulsive disorder had the highest comorbidity ( 5 , 13 , 14 ) ; inflexible pervasive perfectionism is a common feature of both of them ( 15 , 16 ) . in its abnormal form , perfectionism is closely associated with eating disorders ( 16 - 20 ) and obsessive - compulsive disorder ( 21 - 25 ) . regarding this connection , bernert ( 26 ) reported high level of perfectionism and obsessive - compulsive symptoms among patients with eating disorders . ( 27 ) found higher levels of both self - oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism among anorexia patients compared to a mixed group of mood disorder patients and nonclinical controls . only one study has directly compared depressed , anxious and eating disorder patients on these dimensions of perfectionism ( 28 ) . in a large twin study , concern over mistakes was associated with a higher odds ratio for eating disorders but not for major depression and anxiety disorders ; doubts about actions was associated with a higher odds ratio for both eating disorders and anxiety disorders but not for major depression . personal standards was not associated with an elevated odds ratio for any of the disorders . ( 16 ) compared patients with major depression , obsessive - compulsive disorder , and eating disorders on dimensions of perfectionism . results showed concern over mistakes was elevated in each of the patient groups while pure personal standards was only elevated in the eating disorder sample . a doubt about actions was elevated in both patients with obsessive - compulsive disorder and eating disorders , but not in patients with depression . the main concern that lead to the current study was the lack of sufficient data about the role of perfectionism in people with high traits on obsessive - compulsive and eating disorder characteristics . at the non - clinical level , people who have some mild symptoms of obsessive - compulsive disorder or eating disorders that do not meet the diagnostic criteria of related disorders are known to have high trait obsessive - compulsive characteristics  and  high trait eating disorder attitudes  . this study aimed to answer the question of whether the severity of perfectionism differs in obsessive - compulsive characteristics and eating disorder attitudes ? this research was an expo fact study . the statistical population of the research comprised of male and female undergraduate students at tabriz and sarab branches of payam- e- noor university , tabriz islamic university and shahid madani university of azarbaijan in the academic year of 2012 - 2013 . a group of 640 students were selected using the multi - stage random sampling method and the morgan sampling table . based on normative data of obsessive - compulsive inventory - revised , among these candidates , a group of 143 people that had high scores of one standard deviation above the mean as  high traits of obsessive - compulsive group , and another 137 participants who had high scores one standard deviation above the mean for eating attitude test as the final selected obsessive - compulsive subjects consisted of 65 women with a mean age and standard deviation of 23.86  3.99 , and 78 men with a mean age and standard deviation of 24.25  5.22 . the majority of participants were single and a few were married ( 108 versus 18 participants ) ( 18 ) , and eleven did not indicate their marital status . all cases were undergraduate students ; no participants reported any serious psychiatric or medical disorders . the selected subjects with eating disorder characteristics consisted of 59 women with a mean age and standard deviation of 26.22  7.99 , and 78 men with a mean age and standard deviation of 25.34  6.05 . after choosing the groups of participants , the researcher introduced himself to the students and told them about the research objectives . in accordance with the research ethics and the rights of subjects , all participants were ( verbally and by writing ) noted that the participation in this study was voluntarily and that all obtained information was for research purposes . to ascertain security , the participants were not required to write down their names or other private information . only the  gender as far as the execution of the questionnaires was concerned , it was decided that half the subjects took the some scale first , for the other half to begin with the others . this was to neutralize the probable impacts of the order in which the questionnaires were completed . one - way analysis of variance was conducted in order to evaluate the degree to which perfectionism and its positive - negative dimension scores could be differentiated by the obsessive compulsive and eating disorder characteristics groups . the study questionnaires were :   the eating attitude test ( eat ) , which is a 26-item self - report factor - analytically derived scale , originally validated on a sample of 160 women with eating disorders and 140 female nonclinical controls ( 29 ) . it is reliable and valid , correlates highly with the original 40-item scale ( 30 ) , and screens the cases of eating disorders in both clinical and nonclinical populations . the eat is scored on a six - point likert scale with answers range from never to always . in an iranian sample , its internal consistency has been reported as 0.86 and it has good factorial validity ( 31 ) . obsessive - compulsive inventory - revised ( oci - r ) ( 32 ) is an 18-item questionnaire , which assesses six areas of checking , washing , ordering , obsessing , neutralizing and hoarding . responses are recorded by a five - point scale , which ranges from not at all to extremely . its internal consistency was reported to be high by an iranian study ( cronbach s alpha from 0.72 to 0.85 ) and its construct validity was reported favorable ( 33 ) . the perfectionism inventory ( pi ) is a self - report measure consisting of 59 items with a five - point rating scale ranging from one ( strongly disagree ) to five ( strongly agree ) . these items comprise of eight subscales , including concern over mistakes , high standards for others , need for approval , organization , parental pressure , planfulness , rumination , and striving for excellence . ( 2 ) , using a sample of 366 undergraduate students , reported adequate internal consistency among each of the subscales and components with alpha coefficients ranging from 0.75 to 0.91 . test - retest reliability over a three to six - week interval ( m interval of 4.5 weeks ) using a sample of 82 undergraduate students ( 63 females and 19 males ) was 0.71 - 0.91 . finally , the scale demonstrated good convergent validity with three other measures of perfectionism , including the brief symptom inventory , the obsessive - compulsive inventory , and the marlowe - crowne social desirability scale within a college sample ( 2 ) . the study questionnaires were :   the eating attitude test ( eat ) , which is a 26-item self - report factor - analytically derived scale , originally validated on a sample of 160 women with eating disorders and 140 female nonclinical controls ( 29 ) . it is reliable and valid , correlates highly with the original 40-item scale ( 30 ) , and screens the cases of eating disorders in both clinical and nonclinical populations . the eat is scored on a six - point likert scale with answers range from never to always . in an iranian sample , its internal consistency has been reported as 0.86 and it has good factorial validity ( 31 ) . obsessive - compulsive inventory - revised ( oci - r ) ( 32 ) is an 18-item questionnaire , which assesses six areas of checking , washing , ordering , obsessing , neutralizing and hoarding . responses are recorded by a five - point scale , which ranges from not at all to extremely . its internal consistency was reported to be high by an iranian study ( cronbach s alpha from 0.72 to 0.85 ) and its construct validity was reported favorable ( 33 ) . the perfectionism inventory ( pi ) is a self - report measure consisting of 59 items with a five - point rating scale ranging from one ( strongly disagree ) to five ( strongly agree ) . these items comprise of eight subscales , including concern over mistakes , high standards for others , need for approval , organization , parental pressure , planfulness , rumination , and striving for excellence . ( 2 ) , using a sample of 366 undergraduate students , reported adequate internal consistency among each of the subscales and components with alpha coefficients ranging from 0.75 to 0.91 . test - retest reliability over a three to six - week interval ( m interval of 4.5 weeks ) using a sample of 82 undergraduate students ( 63 females and 19 males ) was 0.71 - 0.91 . finally , the scale demonstrated good convergent validity with three other measures of perfectionism , including the brief symptom inventory , the obsessive - compulsive inventory , and the marlowe - crowne social desirability scale within a college sample ( 2 ) . mean and standard deviation of the number of people with high traits of obsessive compulsive and eating disorder characteristics in positive and negative perfectionism is shown in table 1 . before using parametric one way analysis of variance test , homogeneity of variance table 2 summarized the results of this section . to compare people with high traits of obsessive compulsive and eating disorder characteristics in positive and negative perfectionism , one - way analysis of variance was used . according to table 3 , a ) there was a significant difference in perfectionism amongst the two groups ( p > 0.02 ) ; perfectionism was more common in people with high obsessive - compulsive traits than eating disorder characteristics . b ) there was no significant differences in positive perfectionism amongst the two groups ( p > 0.15 ) , c ) there was a significant difference in negative perfectionism amongst the two groups ( p > 0.008 ) ; negative perfectionism was more common in people with high obsessive - compulsive traits than eating disorder characteristics . the purpose of this study was to investigate perfectionism in people with high traits of obsessive compulsive and eating disorder characteristics , and the results showed that perfectionism and related negative dimensions are more common in people with high obsessive - compulsive traits than eating disorder characteristics . as mentioned in the introduction , perfectionism is closely associated with eating disorders , obsessive compulsive traits , and other psychopathological disorders . it seems that fear of failure can launch a perfectionistic behavior component leading to checking , reassurance , and extreme concerns before making a decision ( 17 ) . one of the reasons that perfectionism had a minor role in eating disorder attitudes , compared with obsessive compulsive traits , was related to perfectionism measurement questionnaires that strongly measure obsessive compulsive symptoms rather eating disorder symptoms . the case that has been observed in all instruments . for example , concern over mistakes is more common in obsessive compulsive disorders , and it seems that measures more strongly obsessive compulsive disorder than perfectionism ( 19 ) . perfectionism has been suggested to be a  necessary but insufficient trait for development of ocd  ( 35 ) and the obsessive compulsive cognitions working group ( 36 ) consider perfectionism to be a risk factor for the development of the disorder . many patients with obsessive - compulsive disorder ( ocd ) report the need to have something flawless , certain , or exact . exactly the right way  in response to obsessions and the need for symmetry / exactness is a symptom of the disorder ( 7 ) . such doubts about actions have been considered as part of the construct of perfectionism ( 1 ) and are clearly part of the phenomenology of ocd . this is acknowledged by frost , who states that  doubting of the quality of one s actions has been a hallmark of ocd and indeed , may reflect symptoms of patients with checking rituals  ( 19 ) . thus , the major role of perfectionism in predicting obsessive - compulsive symptoms , which was indicated in this study , is justifiably in line of obsessive compulsive disorder phenomenology . when analysis was performed on the basis of positive - negative perfectionism , the results showed negative perfectionism is more correlated with features of obsessive - compulsive and eating disorder attitudes . this part of the findings is consistent with previous research on clinical samples of eating disorders ( 37 - 39 ) , ocd ( 17 , 18 ) , non - clinical samples of eating disorders ( 35 , 40 - 42 ) , and obsessive compulsive features ( 16 , 22 , 35 , 42 ) . in general , the overall level of perfectionism has been shown to be highly correlated with obsessive - compulsive tendencies in non - clinical studies , yet stronger relationships have been reported between obsessive - compulsive characteristics with concern over mistakes and doubts about actions . however , as noted , the recent cases in introduction are considered as part of the disorder phenomenology . two studies ( 17 , 18 ) have examined perfectionism in people with ocd . in one study , only doubts about actions distinguished patients with ocd from patients with psychiatric disorder ( 18 ) . in both studies , patients with ocd scored higher than normal controls on the subscales of concern over mistakes and doubts about actions . in the first study ( 17 ) , patients with ocd scored a high mean on the subscale of socially prescribed perfectionism , although it should be noted that there is no evidence to support the hypothesis that socially prescribed perfectionism is higher in patients with ocd ( 19 ) . the relationship between eating disorders and perfectionism is more complex , and has been considered as a maintenance factor of eating disorders according to the cognitive theory ( 39 , 43 ) . for example , it has been suggested that perfectionism and dichotomous thinking mediates extreme concern about body shape and weight with rigid dieting behavior ( 43 ) ; from phenomenological and theoretical perspectives , perfectionism is a necessary condition for the development of anorexia nervosa ( 44 ) . it has been suggested that perfectionism leads the patient with anorexia nervosa to view successful dieting as success in the context of perceived broader failure ( 44 ) . therefore , in general , perfectionism is more related to obsessive - compulsive traits than eating disorders . it seems that fear of failure can launch a perfectionistic behavior which leads to checking , reassurance , and extreme concerns before making a decision . first , all data were collected using self - report measures ; it is recommended that future researches replicate these results using other forms of data collection methods , such as peer report or behavioral observation . a second limitation was the fact that in addition to obsessive compulsive disorder and eating disorders , perfectionism was associated with some other disorders such as , social phobia , depression and obsessive - compulsive personality disorder ( 19 ) . in the present study it was not possible to compare perfectionism with these psychological phenomena , thus , it is suggested for perfectionism dimensions to be also explored in clinical and non - clinical disorders that is cleared its contribution in explaining of other pathological aspects . the present findings suggest the need for differential diagnosis of obsessive - compulsive disorder from eating disorders . also , treatment strategies should include attention to dimensions of perfectionism , especially negative perfectionism .
background : psychopathological perfectionism is often correlated with obsessive compulsive eating disorders.objectives:the purpose of this study was to investigate perfectionism in people with high traits of obsessive compulsive and eating disorder characteristics.materials and methods : this study was an expo fact research . 
 the statistical population of the research comprised of male and female undergraduate students at tabriz and sarab branches of payam- e- noor university , tabriz islamic university and azarbaijan shahid madani university in the academic year 2012 - 2013 . 
 a group of 640 university students , using the stratified random sampling method were screened by the obsessive compulsive inventory and the eating attitude test , then a group of 143 participants with high obsessive compulsive traits with another 137 participants with high eating disorder characteristics were selected and assessed with the perfectionism inventory . 
 data were analyzed using one way analysis of variance.results:the results showed that perfectionism and related negative dimension are more commonly found in people with high obsessive - compulsive traits than eating disorder characteristics ( p < 0.02 ) . 
 the results showed the highest contribution of maladaptive perfectionism in predicting obsessive - compulsive features and pathological eating attitude . 
 also , no difference was found between the two groups in terms of negative perfectionism.conclusions:the greater association of perfectionism with symptoms of obsessive - compulsive is consistent with its phenomenological feature . 
 fear of failure may motivate the behavioral components of perfectionism that aim to focus on careful checking , reassurance seeking and excessive consideration before making a decision .