project absolutely perfect that the project is never finished (Criterion 2). For example, the
completion of a written report is delayed by  numerous time-consuming rewrites that all
come up short of “perfection.” Deadlines are missed, and aspects of the individual’s life
that are not the current focus of activity may fall into disarray.
Individuals with obsessive-compulsive pers onality disorder display excessive devotion
to work and productivity to th e exclusion of leisure activities and friendships (Criterion 3).
This behavior is not accounted for by economic necessity. They often f eel that they do not
have time to take an evening or a weekend day of f to go on an outing or to just relax. They
may keep postponing a pleasurable activity, such as a vacation, so that it may never occur.
When they do take time for leisure activities or vacations, they are very uncomfortable un-
less they have taken along some thing to work on so they do not “waste time.” There may be
a great concentration on househ old chores (e.g., repeated excessive cleaning so that “one
could eat off the floor”). If they spend time with friends, it is likely to be in some kind of for-
mally organized activity (e.g., sports). Hobbies  or recreational activities are approached as
serious tasks requiring careful organization and hard work to master. The emphasis is on
perfect performance. These individuals turn play  into a structured task (e.g., correcting an
infant for not putting ring s on the post in the right order; tell ing a toddler to ride his or her tri-
cycle in a straight line; turning a baseball game into a harsh “lesson”).
Individuals with obsessive-co mpulsive personality disord er may be excessively con-
scientious, scrupulous, and infl exible about matters of moralit y, ethics, or values (Crite-