Examining the Associations Among Relationship Obsessive-Compulsive Tendencies, Extreme Love Beliefs, and Big Five Personality Traits in a Nonclinical American Sample

Relationship obsessive-compulsiveness refers to obsessive-compulsive (OC) tendencies that center on an individual’s intimate relationships. This paper focused on the relationship-centered subtype. An online survey using the Big Five Personality Inventory (BFI-44), Extreme Love Beliefs Scale (EXLS), and Relationship Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (ROCI) was distributed, and 153 nonclinical American participants’ responses were analyzed. The researchers’ primarily aimed to examine associations among relationship-centered OC tendencies, extreme love beliefs, and the Big Five personality traits. The secondary objective was to test whether extreme love beliefs differed by relationship status. Correlations revealed a negative relationship between Agreeableness and ROCI scores (r = -.37, p = .002), a negative correlation between Conscientiousness and the Relationship Rightness dimension of the ROCI (r = -.26, p = .03), and a positive correlation between Neuroticism and the Partner’s Love dimension (r = .28, p = .02). Extraversion demonstrated a positive correlation with Relationship Rightness (r = .29, p = .02), contrary to hypotheses. A regression analysis identified Agreeableness (B = −0.35, SE = 0.13, t = −2.77, p = .007), Conscientiousness (B = −0.32, SE = 0.13, t = −2.40, p = .02), and Extraversion (B = 0.32, SE = 0.11, t = 2.83, p = .006) as ROCI predictors, accounting for 23.09% of the variance (adjusted R2 = .23). EXLS scores were higher among single participants than those in relationships (p = .006). Results suggest that OC themes may present independently within individuals, underscoring the need for further investigation into the diversity of OC experiences.