A Review and Critique of Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder Etiologies: Reckoning With Heritability Estimates

Abstract

The present review and critique of extant etiological theories centers on a single finding: Obsessive-compulsive personality is highly heritable (0.78) and not significantly influenced by "common, shared-in-families environmental factors" (Torgersen et al., 2000, p. 424). This finding, though twelve years old, has remained dissociated from existing etiological accounts. Psychoanalytic theories anachronistically maintain that obsessive personality is familially forged. Biological theories, few, unelaborated and weakened by postulating proximate instead of ultimate explanations, fail to seriously reckon with Torgersen's findings. Truly integrating heritability estimates into a functional etiological account of obsessive character, it is argued in the discussion section, will come from an evolutionary model that understands obsessive personality to be an evolved strategy rather than a dysfunctional disorder.

Migration Load, Ecological Opportunity, and Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder Etiology: Obsessive Character as an Adaptation to Seasonality

“…He told us that obsessive character was a triad of orderliness, parsimony, and stubbornness; he told us that obsessive character was a pattern of parentally instilled dysfunction. Freud's description was sound, but his explanation was flawed (Hertler 2014a). On one hand, Freudian description of obsessive character is like an old house, solidly built in foundation and frame.…”

“…A want of empirical support (Pollak 1979(Pollak , 1987 was the first sign of decadence. Yet, it was only in the past decade that the demonstrable heritability of obsessive character (Torgersen et al 2000) would undermine the foundation of Freudian explanation (Hertler 2014a). Freudian etiologies, whether traditionally psychoanalytic or progressively psychosocial, simply cannot coexist with modern behavioral genetics data (Hertler 2014a).…”

“…Yet, it was only in the past decade that the demonstrable heritability of obsessive character (Torgersen et al 2000) would undermine the foundation of Freudian explanation (Hertler 2014a). Freudian etiologies, whether traditionally psychoanalytic or progressively psychosocial, simply cannot coexist with modern behavioral genetics data (Hertler 2014a). Contrary to psychoanalytic doctrine which attributes causality to parent-child dynamics, behavioral genetics research indicates that the obsessive personality is "particularly strongly influenced by genes" (based on a heritability index of 0.78) and not significantly influenced by parental rearing practices (Torgersen et al 2000;Reichborn-Kjennerud et al 2007).…”

The Continuum of Conscientiousness: The Antagonistic Interests among Obsessive and Antisocial Personalities

“…Standard psychogenic etiologies are contradicted by behavioral genetics research, which finds obsessive character to be highly heritable (.78) and not significantly influenced by parental rearing practices (Torgersen et al 2000;Hertler 2013). 4 Still, as Freud intuited, obsessive traits somehow belong together (Gay, 1989).…”

“…Thinking of these traits on a continuum of conscientiousness, the antisocial would serve as the anchor on one end of the scale and the obsessive would serve as the anchor on the other. Accordingly, what follows is a stepwise theoretical commentary on the 19 of the 20 Hare Psychopathy items (item 19 is omitted because of its specific relationship to the criminal justice system) as they alternately relate to the obsessive personality pattern (unless otherwise specified, the following features of the obsessive pattern are taken from a collective reading of Pollak, 1987;Pfohl and Blum, 1991;Millon and Davis, 1996;McCann, 2009;and Hertler, 2013;2013b).…”