Published on: 12/15/2015IST

Anuj Tiwari Last updated on: 12/18/2015, Permalink

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If you’ve been trying to hide your nail biting from your mom, you may not have to anymore. According to the results of a new study, you may just be a perfectionist. Even she can’t argue with that!

Nail biting is a sign of perfectionism rather than anxiety.

A group of researchers from the University of Montreal conducted experiments on a group of 48 people, half of whom were prone to repetitive behaviours such as nail-biting, skin-picking and hair-pulling. 

The participants were put through stressful, relaxing, frustrating, and boring tests and the researchers found that the people with a history of these repetitive behaviours were more likely to engage in these behaviours when they were doing the boring or frustrating tests, rather than the stressful tests. 

So people who bite their nails do so when they can't reach their goals.

It means that the people didn’t bite their nails or pull their hair when they were stressed, disproving the common belief that these behaviours are associated with anxiety. The participants were more likely to start nibbling when they were bored or frustrated, and both these emotions have been linked with perfectionism.

“We believe that individuals with these repetitive behaviours maybe perfectionistic, meaning that they are unable to relax and to perform tasks at a 'normal' pace,” said author Professor Kieron O'Connor from the University of Montreal. “They are therefore prone to frustration, impatience, and dissatisfaction when they do not reach their goals.”