This paper attempts to establish those personality characteristics which distinguish the sufferer from osteoarthritis from persons who develop other types of illness. The authors' findings are based on data obtained from psychiatric interviews, reactions of the patients on the ward, and the analyses of psychological tests.

Of the twenty cases studied, all were to some degree neglected or rejected by their parents in childhood. Most of them exhibited overt childhood psychopathology, such as temper tantrums, enuresis, phobias, etc. These patients were competitive in adolescence, but were poor sports and subject to quick tempers and impulsive outbursts. Their relationship to people was superficial, opportunistic, cold, and unstable. This is true for the wife, the child, the friend and the boss. In the majority of cases the onset of the specific somatic affliction was precipitated by the threat of desertion or the actual desertion by the wife.