"Accurate empathy" and the A-B dichotomy.

Compared B-type therapists with neurotic patients and A-type therapists with schizophrenic patients, with the opposite patient-therapist pairings for 2 criterion measures of "improvement" and a measure of "accurate empathy." 8 therapists were given the A-B scale and their sessions with a total of 31 patients recorded. Neither judged improvement nor length of hospitalization was significantly related to either high- vs. low-empathy ratings or to type of therapist-patient pairings. As predicted, however, B-type therapists with neurotic patients and A-type therapists with schizophrenic patients displayed more empathy than with the reverse pairings. Results indicate a relationship between the findings of 2 independent lines of research on therapy outcome, 1 basing outcome predictions on client-centered theoretical constructs, the other on the empirical value of the A-B scale. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The A-B scale and empathy, warmth, genuineness, and depth of self-exploration.

Studied initial interviews conducted by 25 senior medical students with 25 neurotic outpatients. There were no significant relationships between the therapists' A-B scale scores and their empathy, warmth, and genuineness. B-type therapists did elicit greater depth of exploration, a result consonant with existing research. Findings suggest that these 2 sets of variables the A-B scale and empathy, warmth, and genuineness are independent sources of variance in therapeutic outcome. The A-B scale offers the potential of leading to the discovery of a new set of determinants of psychotherapeutic success. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A-B distinction and therapeutic interaction.

Investigated whether there is a relationship between therapist's scores on the A-B scale and his behavior in psychotherapy. A comparison of therapeutic activity of 20 A and B therapists obtained from tape recordings of therapy hr. suggested that (a) B therapists tended to be more facilitative, i.e., to encourage more client self-expression; and (b) A therapists tended to be somewhat more interpretative and negative. Findings are consistent with previous research with the A-B scale, which suggested a relationship between A-B personality characteristics and behavior in psychotherapy. It appears that further investigation of A-B personality correlates and how they are manifested in psychotherapy is warranted. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A-B distinction in a sample of prominent psychotherapists.

Asked 134 prominent psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, and behavior therapists to fill out the Whitehorn-Betz A-B therapist scale and comment on their possible differential effectiveness in treating schizoid-schizophrenic vs neurotic patients. Psychometric analysis of the 95 responses disclosed that their scale scores were reliable, distributed comparably to other therapists and collegiate males, and denotative of 2 correlated interest-aptitude dimensions. Professionals typed as A's or B's showed a greater reluctance to accept the research-generated implications of their A-B status than Ss whose scores fell into neither of these categories. Although data did not provide strong evidence for a relationship between A-B scale scores and theoretical orientation, the distribution of scores did suggest that B therapists desire and seek more complex and exciting sensory-cognitive inputs during therapy hours than A therapists. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reappraisal of the A-B therapist "type" distinction in terms of the Personality Research Form.

Assessed personality dimensions involved in the A-B therapist "type" distinction which has proven predictive of therapist-patient compatibility in several clinical and analogue studies. The A-B scale scores of 223 male undergraduates were related to the 22 variables of Jackson's Personality Research Form. Multiple discriminant analyses and factor analyses strongly supported the hypothesis that A-B status is explicable in personality terms: so-called A-type Ss (predicted to be compatible with schizoid patients) were characterized by cautious self-expression, social ineptness, and a restricted cognitive scope; B-type Ss (presumably compatible with neurotic patients) appeared socially ascendant and "open" to complex experiences. Results were supported by a cross-validation study of 50 professional Ss. As in prior research, the variables differentiating A-B statuses appeared to involve a prominent "masculinity-femininity" component. (30 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effectiveness of A and B therapists with schizophrenics and neurotics: A referral study.

A basic assumption in the therapist A-B variable literature has been that A therapists are more effective with schizophrenic patients and that B therapists are more effective with neurotic patients. This has not been adequately demonstrated among experienced, practicing therapists since the original work of J. C. Whitehorn and B. J. Betz (1954, 1957, 1960) and D. McNair et al (1962). The current study attempted such a demonstration. Assuming a close relationship between a therapist's effectiveness and his/her reputation among professional colleagues, the study asked each of 60 psychologists to "refer" each of 6 case vignettes (2 schizophrenic, 2 neurotic, and 2 "other") to the colleague he/she believed would be most effective with that case. 41 Ss (20 As and 21 Bs, as determined by the Schiffman et al A-B scale reported by D. E. Kemp and J. H. Stephens, 1972) completed the task. A therapists received more schizophrenic than neurotic referrals, whereas B therapists received more neurotic than schizophrenic referrals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A-B therapist status, patient diagnosis, and psychotherapy outcome in a psychiatric outpatient population.

Previous research generally has supported the hypothesis that A therapists obtain better therapy outcomes with schizophrenics, while B therapists do better with neurotics. Based on recent evidence, a 2nd hypothesis (super A) has been advanced which predicts that A therapists do at least as well with neurotic patients as do B therapists and that As obtain significantly more positive outcomes with schizophrenics. To examine these hypotheses, the therapy outcomes of 7 A and 4 B therapists, differentiated by their scores on the 23-item Whitehorn and Betz (1957) A-B scale, with their 18 schizophrenic and 18 neurotic patients were examined. A multivariate ANOVA computed for the 2 outcome measures, therapists' ratings of patient improvement and number of therapy sessions, clearly supported the super-A hypothesis. Separate ANOVAs demonstrated further support for the super-A hypothesis with therapists' ratings as the dependent variable, whereas the interaction hypothesis received support with number of sessions attended as the dependent measure. Of considerable importance was the fact that the addition of ataractic medication to the treatment of schizophrenics did not attenuate the effect of the A-B therapist distinction on therapeutic outcome. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Practicing A and B psychotherapists' responses to schizoid and neurotic patient prototypes.

83 practicing male psychotherapists completed the A-B Scale of H. Schiffman et al (1967), responded to recordings of schizoid and neurotic patient prototypes, and rated their subjective reactions to each type. Multivariate analysis revealed a significant overall A-B Type by Patient Type interaction. Although liking and ease of responding were higher in therapist–patient dyads, which the literature suggests are effective (A—schizoid, B—neurotic), felt compatibility and desire to work with the patient were higher in the opposite ("mismatched") dyads. Results suggest that subjective reactions underlying the A-B interaction effect are complex and that therapists respond in a differentiated, not global, fashion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex role stereotyping and A-B therapist status: Who is more chauvinistic?

Administered the A-B Therapist Scale to 76 male and female psychotherapists and male and female mursing students. Results show that A therapists significantly stereotyped to the disparagement of females significantly more than B therapists. Implications for treatment are examined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some personality and aptitudinal correlates of the "A-B" therapist scale.

On the basis of prior research showing similarities between practicing therapists and undergraduates varying in A-B status, 12 scales from the Omnibus Personality Inventory and the 4 component scores of the American College Testing Program battery were related to A-B status of about 2400 undergraduates. A stepwise discriminant analysis showed that the present set of measures significantly discriminated male As from ABs (middles) and Bs, and that the differences between As and Bs involved the joint effects of masculinity-femininity, verbal aptitude, and natural science aptitude measures. As and Bs differed in a way consistent with previous reasearch on "cognitive style." Correlational and factor-analytic data indicated that the A-B variable cannot be regarded as linearly related to those measures which discriminated As from Bs. A quasi-typological interpretation of the A-B variable was proposed and methodological implications were drawn. (20 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A-B therapist distinction, patient diagnosis, and outcome of brief psychotherapy in a college clinic.

Prior studies suggest that therapists' A-B status (types catagorized by the Whitehorn-Betz A-B scale) interacts with patient diagnosis in determining the outcome of psychotherapy (A > B with schizophrenics, B > A with neurotics). To discern whether the hypothesis would apply to brief psychotherapy in a college clinic, the "outcomes" obtained by 3 A and 3 B therapists with their schizoid and neurotic patients (N = 57) were examined in a 2 * 2 factorial design. Analysis of 3 dependent measures based on therapists' and patients' posttherapy ratings reveal considerable support for the hypothesis, particularly for therapists' appraisals of their own effectiveness (interaction, p     

"Some comments on the relation between A-B status of behavior therapists and success treatment": James and Foreman reply.

Replies to H. J. Eysenck's commentary (see record 1975-11786-001) on the original article by L. E. James and M. E. Foreman (see record 197407703-001) regarding the relation between A-B status of behavior therapists and success of treatment. In his commentary, Eysenck argued that several weaknesses in the original study do not support the conclusion that the A-B therapist variable is associated with outcomes of behavior therapy. In this reply, James and Foreman defend their conclusions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"A" therapists as creative and personally involved with other people.

Administered the MMPI, Campbell-Strong Vocational Interest Blank, and A-B Therapist scale to college males. A subgroup of freshmen was also given 12 tests of creative potential. Results support the hypotheses that A-type therapists would show greater creativity, personal involvement with people in general, femininity, and verbal orientation than B-type therapists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A-B distinction and behavior in quasitherapeutic situations.

2 laboratory experiments involving analogues of the psychotherapy situation are reported, using untrained Ss selected on the basis of performance on the Whitehorn-Betz A-B Scale. The general hypothesis tested was that the responses of these A- and B-"type" Ss in the "therapist" role would be an interactional function of: their A-B typing and certain "patient" characteristics. The latter were experimentally varied on a trust-intropunitive vs. distrust-extrapunitive dimension. Results indicated statistically significant interactions in the predicted directions in regard to depth-directedness and degree of exploratory activity in the behavior of the experimental therapists. Findings are interpreted as confirming an hypothesized differential sensitivity among A- and B-type individuals to differing forms of behavior pathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of differences between Type A and B individuals in heart rate and blood pressure reactivity

Past estimates of the magnitude of Type A-B differences in cardiovascular reactivity are probably overly conservative. In addition, it is unclear which situations are more likely to elicit excessive reactivity in Type As. The present meta-analysis found that, overall, Type As had greater heart rate (mean d = .22), diastolic blood pressure (d = .22), and especially systolic blood pressure responses (d = .33) than Type Bs; these effect sizes were small but relatively consistent. However, Type As showed especially greater cardiovascular reactivity in situations characterized as having (a) positive or negative feedback evaluation, (b) socially aversive elements such as verbal harassment or criticism, and (c) elements inherent in playing video games. Measures of time urgency, Type A assessment method, and gender were not found to be strongly related to A-B differences in cardiovascular reactivity. Future studies that use more "Type A-relevant" situations will probably find greater effects.     

Erratum to Matthews and Burkhart.

Reports an error in the article "A-B Therapist Status, Patient Diagnosis, and Psychotherapy Outcome in a Psychiatric Outpatient Population" by Jerry G. Matthews and Barry R. Burkhart (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1977, Vol. 45, No. 3, pp. 47S-482), the next to last sentence of the abstract is incorrect. The sentence reads: "Separate analyses of variance demonstrated further support for the super-A hypothesis with therapists' ratings as the dependent variable, whereas the interaction hypothesis received support, with number of sessions as the dependent measure." The sentence should read: "Separate analyses of variance demonstrated further support for the super-A hypothesis with number of sessions attended as the dependent measure, whereas the interaction hypothesis received support, with therapists' ratings as the dependent variable." (The following abstract originally appeared in record 1978-03783-001) Previous research generally has supported the hypothesis that A therapists obtain better therapy outcomes with schizophrenics, while B therapists do better with neurotics. Based on recent evidence, a 2nd hypothesis (super A) has been advanced which predicts that A therapists do at least as well with neurotic patients as do B therapists and that As obtain significantly more positive outcomes with schizophrenics. To examine these hypotheses, the therapy outcomes of 7 A and 4 B therapists, differentiated by their scores on the 23-item Whitehorn and Betz (1957) A-sub( scale, with their 18 schizophrenic and 18 neurotic patients were examined. A multivariate ANOVA computed for the 2 outcome measures, therapists' ratings of patient improvement and number of therapy sessions, clearly supported the super-A hypothesis. Separate ANOVAs demonstrated further support for the super-A hypothesis with therapists' ratings as the dependent variable, whereas the interaction hypothesis received support with number of sessions attended as the dependent measure. Of considerable importance was the fact that the addition of ataractic medication to the treatment of schizophrenics did not attenuate the effect of the A-sub( therapist distinction on therapeutic outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of gender in the presentation of mental health clinicians in the movies: Implications for clinical practice.

Investigated the presentation of male and female mental health clinicians in popular movies released in the US. Researchers identified 99 movie characters in 61 movies meeting box-office gross criteria between 1988 and 1998. Clinicians were coded for competence, sexualization, inappropriate professional activity, and engagement in dual relationships with clients. Chi square analyses revealed that female characters were more likely to be sexualized and that male characters were more likely to be portrayed as incompetent. The position of power that accompanies the role of therapist is incongruent with the socially prescribed and less powerful position females occupy in society. Sexualizing female clinicians may serve to redistribute power within a socially constructed mythology. Males are seen as ill equipped to handle the relationship and emotional problems of others and are in a gender-incongruent role as psychotherapist. Assuming movies both reflect and influence cultural stereotypes, understanding the stereotypes as portrayed in the movies will assist therapists to address proactively clients' preconceived myths about treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)