Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to explore the influence of parental expectations on obsessive-compulsive tendencies in Japanese high school students. Japanese public high school students (N = 309) and their parents (N = 238) were asked to complete a questionnaire that measured perceived parental expectations and obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Cluster analyses showed that the students could be classified into 5 groups according to their perceptions of parental expectations. Obsessive-compulsive tendencies in the group that perceived high parental expectations and greatly disliked their parents' expectations were higher than in the other groups. However, no difference in obsessive-compulsive tendencies among the groups was found in relation to the extent of actual parental expectations. These findings suggest that perceived parental expectations and an attitude opposing them is an important determinant of obsessive-compulsive tendencies in Japanese high school students.
