 Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP) type of personality concerns how people respond to stress. Though it is a personality typology, it is more appropriately conceptualized as a trait continuum, with extremes Type-A and Type-B individuals on each end. Typical responses of TABP include: Competitiveness(very competitive and self-critical.),Time Urgency(seem to be in a constant struggle against the clock.),Hostility( easily aroused to anger or hostility, which they may or may not express overtly.)

1. TYPE A BEHAVIOR PATTERN (TABP)
REF- SAUL MCLEOD, UPDATED 2017
By
Col Mukteshwar Prasad(Retd)

2. TYPE A PERSONALITY
 This type of personality concerns how people respond to stress.
 Though it is a personality typology, it is more appropriately conceptualized
as a trait continuum, with extremes Type-A and Type-B individuals on
each end.
 Research Background
 Friedman and Rosenman (both cardiologists) actually discovered the Type A
behavior by accident after they realized that their waiting-room chairs needed
to be reupholstered much sooner than anticipated.
 When the upholsterer arrived to do the work, he carefully inspected the
chairs and noted that the upholstery had worn in an unusual way: "there's
something different about your patients, I've never seen anyone wear
out chairs like this."
 Unlike most patients, who wait patiently, the cardiac patients seemed unable
to sit in their seats for long and wore out the arms of the chairs.
 They tended to sit on the edge of the seat and leaped up frequently.
 However, the doctors initially dismissed this remark, and it was only five
years later that they began their formal research.

3. TYPE A PERSONALITY
 Research Background…. they began their formal research.
 Friedman and Rosenman labeled this behavior Type A personality.
 They subsequently conduced research to show that people with type A
personality run a higher risk of heart disease and high blood
pressure than type Bs.
 Although originally called 'Type A personality' by Friedman and Rosenman it
has now been conceptualized as a set of behavioral responses
collectively known as Type A Behavior Pattern.

4. TYPE A BEHAVIOR PATTERN (TABP)
 Typical responses of TABP include:
 Competitiveness
 Type A individuals tend to be very competitive and self-critical.
 They strive toward goals without feeling a sense of joy in their
efforts or accomplishments.
 Interrelated with this is the presence of a significant life imbalance.
 This is characterized by a high work involvement.
 Type A individuals are easily ‘wound up’ and tend to overreact.
 They also tend to have high blood pressure (hypertension).
 Time Urgency
 Type A personalities experience a constant sense of urgency: Type A
people seem to be in a constant struggle against the clock.

5. TYPE A BEHAVIOR PATTERN (TABP)
 Time Urgency….Often, they
 Quickly become impatient with delays and unproductive time,
 Schedule commitments too tightly, and
 Ttry to do more than one thing at a time,
 such as reading while eating or watching television.
 Hostility
 Type A individuals tend to be easily aroused to anger or hostility, which
they may or may not express overtly.
 Such individuals tend to see the worse in others, displaying
 Anger,
 Envy and
 A lack of compassion.
 When this behavior is expressed overtly (i.e., physical behavior) it
generally involves aggression and possible bullying (Forshaw, 2012).
 Hostility appears to be the main factor linked to heart disease and is a
better predictor than the TAPB as a whole.

6. TYPE B & C PERSONALITIES
 People with Type B personality tend to be
 More tolerant of others,
 Are more relaxed than Type A individuals,
 More reflective,
 Experience lower levels of anxiety and
 Display a higher level of imagination and creativity.
 The Type C personality has
 Difficulty expressing emotion and
 Tends to suppress emotions, particularly negative ones such as
anger.
 This means such individual also display
 'pathological niceness,‘
 Conflict avoidance,
 High social desirability,
 Over compliance and
 Patience.

9. EMPIRICAL RESEARCH
 Friedman & Rosenman (1976) conducted a longitudinal study to test their
hypothesis that Type A personality could predict incidents of heart disease.
 The Western Collaborative Group Study followed 3154 healthy men, aged
between thirty-nine and fifty-nine for eight and a half years.
 Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire.
 Examples of questions asked by Friedman & Rosenman:
 Do you feel guilty if you use spare time to relax?
 Do you need to win in order to derive enjoyment from games and
sports?
 Do you generally move, walk and eat rapidly?
 Do you often try to do more than one thing at a time?

10. EMPIRICAL RESEARCH
 From their responses, and from their manner, each participant was put into
one of two groups:
 Type A behavior:
 Competitive,
 Ambitious,
 Impatient,
 Aggressive,
 Fast talking.
 Type B behavior:
 Relaxed,
 Non-competitive.
 According to the results of the questionnaire 1589 individuals were classified
as Type A personalities, and 1565 Type B.

11. FINDINGS
 The researchers found that more than twice as many Type A people as Type
B people developed coronary heart disease.
 When the figures were adjusted for smoking, lifestyle, etc. it still emerged
that Type A people were nearly twice as likely to develop heart disease as
Type B people.
 For example, eight years later 257 of the participants had developed
coronary heart disease.
 By the end of the study, 70% of the men who had developed coronary
heart disease (CHD) were Type A personalities.
 The Type A personality types behavior makes them more prone to stress-
related illnesses such as CHD, raised blood pressure, etc.
 Such people are more likely to have their ”flight or fight” response set off
by things in their environment.
 As a result, they are more likely to have the stress hormones present,
which over a long period of time leads to a range of stress-related illnesses.

12. RESEARCH EVALUATION
 Limitations of the study involve problems with external validity.
 Because the study used an all male sample it is unknown if the
results could be generalized to a female population.
 Studies carried out on women have not shown such a major difference
between Type A and Type B and subsequent health.
 This may suggest that different coping strategies are just as important as
personality.
 The study was able to control for other important variables, such as smoking
and lifestyle.
 This is good as it makes it less likely that such extraneous variables could
confound the results of the study.

13. THEORETICAL EVALUATION
 However, there are a number of problems with the type A and B approach.
 Such approaches have been criticized for attempting to describe
complex human experiences within narrowly defined parameters.
 Many people may not fit easily into a type A or B person.
 A longitudinal study carried out by Ragland and Brand (1988) found that as
predicted by Friedman Type A men were more likely to suffer from
coronary heart disease.
 Interestingly, though, in a follow up to their study, they found that of the
men who survived coronary events Type A men died at a rate much
lower than type B men.
 The major problem with the Type A and Type B theory is actually determining
which factors are influencing coronary heart disease.
 Some research (e.g., Johnston, 1993) has concentrated on hostility,
arguing that the Type A behavior pattern is characterized by
underlying hostility which is a major factor leading to coronary heart
disease.

14. THEORETICAL EVALUATION
 Other research has investigated the way that type A people experience and
cope with stress, which is the major factor leading to coronary heart disease.
 It would seem that a much more sophisticated model is needed to
predict coronary heart disease than Friedman and Rosenman's Type
A & Type B approach.

15. TYPE A PERSONALITY TEST
20 MINUTES
 This test assesses whether you possess the hallmark behavioral
characteristics of the Type A Personality. These include hostility,
impatience, difficulty expressing emotions, competitiveness, drive,
perfectionism and an unhealthy dependence on external rewards
such as wealth, status, or power. The results from our Type A
Personality test are intended to reveal whether your tendency is
closer to the rushed, continuously stressed-out Type A, or the more
laid-back Type B Personality. This information will provide
important knowledge about your potential for heart disease and
other negative health effects known to result from certain aspects
of the Type A behavior pattern (TABP).
Examine the following statements and indicate how often you feel
that way. Please answer as honestly as possible in order to get the
most accurate results.
 These are questions sample from Psychology Today

19. 
 43.When playing a game/sport:
 I make sure I'm the star player.
 I try to be the star player.
 I may try to win but the important thing is to have fun.
 I just play for fun.
 44. I feel that I am:
 Much more competitive than others.
 A bit more competitive than others.
 About as competitive as others.
 A bit less competitive than others.
 Much less competitive than others
 45. I tend to think of colleagues at work or school as my:
 Competitors.
 Allies or friends.
 A mix of the two.
 46. If a co-worker is performing better than me:
 I double my efforts so I can outdo him or her.
 I try a bit harder to catch up or outdo him or her.
 I consider that I may have something to learn from him or her.
 I don't mind - it has nothing to do with my performance.
 I don't even notice.

20. SNAPSHOT REPORT OF SELF ON 73 SUCH QUESTIONS BY
PSYCHOLOGY TODAY IMPATIENCE/IRRITABILITY 26
 Your interactions with others, while characterized by warmth
and tolerance the majority of the time, may occasionally be
tinged with impatience and hostility. When you're stressed or
frustrated, you may lash out at others or end up stewing in
anger or frustration, but this is very rare. Since you generally
trust others, you are usually willing to open up emotionally and
value relationships for the sake of the people involved, instead
of what they can do for you. This is fortunate because a high
amount of this aspect of the Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP)
can not only be extremely harmful to relationships, it is also
very damaging to your health. While originally it was thought
that global TABP was the culprit in coronary heart disease,
research now shows that hostility, impatience, and other
related traits are the real source of the problem. Based on
your results here, you are likely not at a very elevated risk of
heart disease, but keep in mind that there are other causes
unrelated to the TABP, such as poor diet, lack of exercise, and
smoking, among other things