Coping with competing demands: Interruption and the Type A pattern.

Interruption and Type A behavior as causes of overload in police radio dispatchers were examined in this observational study. All of the dispatchers (N?=?72) were observed throughout one work shift, and about one half of the sample were observed for two additional shifts. For each work activity, observers recorded whether it was finished before the next activity was begun (sequential processing), left unfinished so that the dispatcher could attend fully to a new demand (preemption), or processed but ultimately left unfinished while the dispatcher simultaneously attended to one or more new demands (simultaneity). Analysis revealed that subjects who more often had their activities preempted or who handled demands simultaneously appraised their work as more overloading and took more coping actions. The effect of objective work volume on appraisal was indirect, mediated by interruption. Regardless of the level of interruption, Type A subjects proved to have lower thresholds for appraising demands as overloading and taking coping actions than did Type B subjects. These findings implicate interruption as a critical factor in job stress among human service professionals and also demonstrate the importance of measuring objective work demands in studies of this phenomenon. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work and health outcomes among police officers: The mediating role of police cynicism and engagement.

This study examined the relationship between personality variables (Type A), job demands and job resources, and police cynicism and engagement, and also examined the mediating role of cynicism and work engagement in predicting both work and health related outcomes among police officers. The participants were 150 Norwegian police officers, and data were collected using questionnaires. Results showed that Type A behavior was related to both cynicism and engagement. As predicted, both job demands and lack of job resources were related to cynicism, and job resources were positively related to engagement. A series of regression analyses indicated direct relationships between Type A behavior, job demands and health complaints with no mediating effect of cynicism. Work engagement partially mediated the effects of individual characteristics, job demands and job resources on organizational commitment and self-efficacy. However, direct links between demands and resources and organizational commitment were also found, as well as direct links between Type A behavior, work demands and self-efficacy. The implications of work engagement for organizations were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Type A behavior in employed women: Relation to work, marital, and leisure variables, social support, stress, tension, and health.

91 21–62 yr old women employed full-time were administered the Jenkins Activity Survey and a Type A (coronary prone) behavior scale by S. Haynes et al (see record 1979-33979-001). Information concerning various work and nonwork-related (e.g., marital relations and leisure activity) variables was obtained via questionnaire or interview. Type As had higher occupational levels and reported more demanding jobs and higher stress and tension than Type Bs. Type As and Bs did not differ in their reports of marital adjustment or in total hours spent in leisure activities. Type A behavior was related to both self-reported stress and tension—and for married women only, to poorer self-reported physical health. Social support from various sources was not related to Type A or B behavior. Type A was related to more reported stress and tension for Ss who felt they had many sources of support but not for Ss who did not perceive their having many sources of support. (51 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Type A behavior pattern and the self-evaluation of abilities: Empirical tests of the self-appraisal model.

The self-appraisal model proposes that Type A behavior reflects active attempts to generate diagnostic information about abilities, particularly in situations that evoke high uncertainty. In Study 1, subjects were provided feedback indicating high or low uncertainty about underlying abilities in two domains. When subjects were more uncertain of their ability in one domain than in the other, Jenkins-Activity-Survey-defined Type As (but not Type Bs) subsequently constructed tests that were biased to assess the more uncertain domain. Study 2 examined postfailure performance. The model holds that Type As perform poorly because they suspend information gathering when faced with evidence that requisite abilities are absent. Results indicated that deficits emerged only if Type As believed that a second task assessed the same abilities as the initial task on which they failed. A final study examined social comparison among Type As and Bs. Results indicated that Type As engaged in social comparison to obtain diagnostic information, primarily when they were uncertain of their ability levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Allocation of attention and the Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern.

Three studies with 88 undergraduates assessed the attentional style of Ss with the Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern as classified by the Jenkins Activity Survey. Exp I, which used a dual-task paradigm, revealed that Type As focused their attention on central tasks; thus, they attended less to peripheral tasks than did Type Bs. Exps II and III, which used a single task performed in the presence of a distracting stimulus, indicated that Type As actively inhibited or suppressed their attention to task-irrelevant peripheral events that might distract them from task performance. Findings validate observations that Type As appear hyperalert (focused in their attention) but neglect task-irrelevant cues. Previous research has demonstrated that Type As fail to report fatigue as well as other physical symptoms of illness during task performance. To the extent that symptoms are analogous to peripheral events that distract from task performance, the data suggest that Type As suppress their attention to symptoms. Implications of the attentional style of Type As for the pathogenesis of coronary artery and heart disease are discussed. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Type A behavior pattern, parental history of hypertension, and cardiovascular reactivity in college males.

Examined 2 risk factors for cardiovascular disorders—parental history of hypertension and the Type A (coronary prone) behavior pattern—with respect to cardiovascular reactivity to challenging situations. 64 college males completed a structured interview (SI), Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS), and family health questionnaire. Ss were monitored for blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and pulse transit time response to 4 tasks. Type As based on SI classification had significantly higher HR levels across all tasks than did Type Bs (noncoronary prone), as well as higher diastolic BP levels in the cold pressor task. No main effects for Type A-B using JAS classification were found. Type A and parental history did interact in a limited way on some tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Type A behavior pattern and emotion expression in younger and older adults.

80 younger (M?=?28 yrs) and 80 older (>50 yrs, M?=?69 yrs) Type A and Type B Ss were evaluated for Type A behavior pattern using the Structured Interview (SI) and given personality tests for anxiety, depression, anger, aggression, hostility, and anger-in–anger-out. Ss also underwent an emotion induction procedure. Videotapes of the emotion induction procedure (N?=?160) and the SI (N?=?80) were coded for facial expression of emotion. Type As did not differ from Bs on anxiety or depression but did on anger and aggression. Type As showed anger inhibition and anger bound to shame, as predicted by emotion socialization theory. The greatest number of differential effects were observed between age groups. Older individuals, in general, were more emotionally expressive than younger Ss across a range of emotions. Women appeared more conflicted about anger expression than men, and Type A women more so than Type A men. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Time urgency among coronary-prone individuals.

Investigated differences in impatience among Type A and B individuals. In Exp I, 22 undergraduate females were required to signal the passage of 1 min while engaged in a reading task. Results indicate that Type A Ss perceived time as passing significantly more quickly than Type B Ss. In Exp II, the relative work rates (completion of inventories) were assessed for 112 undergraduate Type A and B Ss. Type As worked significantly more quickly than Bs. Both experiments lend support to the hypothesis that Type As are more impatient or time urgent than are Type Bs. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Type A coronary-prone behavior in the work environment

The model presented in this paper accounts for the relationship between Type A behavior and the work environment and identifies: (1) susceptible Type A individuals; (2) potential occupational stressors in the work environment; (3) subsequent resulting control conflict and maladaptive coping behavior; (4) feedback error and time lag resulting in detrimental symptoms; and (5) methods of changing Type A behavior (Fig 1). From this literature review, it becomes clear that there is a need for further prospective research especially in the area aimed at isolating and determining the specific work environment variables which enhance Type A behavior. As yet, no prospective research project is known which has followed a sample of employees from their job application and interview situation through their careers, in order to investigate changes in, and influences on, Type A behavior patterns. Finally, there is an obvious need for the introduction of more Type A behavior modification programs for workers, and perhaps more emphasis should also be directed toward changing the Type A behavior pattern socialization process, which appears to be so prevalent in urban, middle-class home environments.     

Investigating the cause of language regularization in adults: Memory constraints or learning effects?

When language learners are exposed to inconsistent probabilistic grammatical patterns, they sometimes impose consistency on the language instead of learning the variation veridically. The authors hypothesized that this regularization results from problems with word retrieval rather than from learning per se. One prediction of this, that easing the demands of lexical retrieval leads to less regularization, was tested. Adult learners were exposed to a language containing inconsistent probabilistic patterns and were tested with either a standard production task or one of two tasks that reduced the demands of lexical retrieval. As predicted, participants tested with the modified tasks more closely matched the probability of the inconsistent items than did those tested with the standard task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Type A behavior pattern and emotion expression in younger and older adults": Correction.

Reports an error in the original article by C. Malatesta-Magai et al (Psychology & Aging, 1992[Dec], Vol 7[4], 551–561). A citation that was inadvertently omitted from the original article is provided. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1993-17168-001.) 80 younger (M?=?28 yrs) and 80 older (>50 yrs, M?=?69 yrs) Type A and Type B Ss were evaluated for Type A behavior pattern using the Structured Interview (SI) and given personality tests for anxiety, depression, anger, aggression, hostility, and anger-in–anger-out. Ss also underwent an emotion induction procedure. Videotapes of the emotion induction procedure (N?=?160) and the SI (N?=?80) were coded for facial expression of emotion. Type As did not differ from Bs on anxiety or depression but did on anger and aggression. Type As showed anger inhibition and anger bound to shame, as predicted by emotion socialization theory. The greatest number of differential effects were observed between age groups. Older individuals, in general, were more emotionally expressive than younger Ss across a range of emotions. Women appeared more conflicted about anger expression than men, and Type A women more so than Type A men. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Challenge seeking and the Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern.

60 Type A (coronary prone) and 60 Type B (noncoronary prone) male undergraduates (Jenkins Activity Survey for Health Prediction—Form T) engaging in tasks that required varying degrees of activity before an assessment of challenge-seeking tendencies. Type A's sought greater degrees of challenge than did their Type B counterparts. Also, the more active Type-A S had been immediately before the challenge-seeking opportunity, the greater the degree of challenge sought. Precedent activity level did not significantly influence challenge seeking in the Type B population. The Type A's also had significantly faster heart rates during performance of a challenging task. Pattern A behavior may be translated into heart disease through the cumulative deleterious effects of chronic and excessive challenge-induced cardiovascular excitation. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

EMG biofeedback training of Type A and Type B behavior pattern subjects.

Assessed the relative efficacy of EMG biofeedback training to reduce tension levels in Ss characterized either by the presence of the coronary-prone behavior pattern (Type A) or by its absence (Type B). 55 college students, classified as Type A or B on the basis of Jenkins Activity Survey (Form T) scores, were randomly assigned to either a biofeedback or a control group. Ss met for 6 training sessions, then returned for a 7th session to perform without biofeedback a series of easy (4-digit recall) and difficult (7-digit recall) tasks. Biofeedback Ss attained a greater degree of relaxation during training than did control Ss, regardless of A/B status. Also, biofeedback Ss maintained greater relaxation during task performance than did control Ss. Across groups, Type A's performed significantly better than Type B's on difficult tasks, and although Type A biofeedback Ss had EMG levels as high as Type B controls for the actual duration of performance tasks, they maintained significantly lower EMG levels than either group prior to, between, and after performance tasks. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress effects on affiliation preferences among subjects possessing the Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern.

Conducted 3 studies to test the hypothesis that when Ss who display the Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern are placed under stress, they prefer to wait for the stressful event with others, but desire to work under stress alone. In Exp I, 50% of the 25 Type A and 25 Type B (non-coronary-prone) undergraduates were told that they would receive painful electric shock while working on a mental task, while the other 50% were told that they would receive subliminal stimulation. Both groups were then given the choice of waiting for the event with others or alone and the choice of working on the task alone, in the company of others, or in a leader-directed group. Results show that Type As relative to Type Bs tended to wait in the company of others regardless of threat level, but displayed a preference to work alone under high threat. This decision to work alone was not influenced by waiting preference. Results of Exp II show that 40 coronary patients reported a greater preference for working alone when under pressure than 40 matched controls, as did Type A college students (77% vs 14% for Type Bs) when asked their preference within the context of the structured interview used to assess the Type A pattern. The significance of the findings for increasing the understanding of affiliative preferences and coronary-prone behavior are discussed. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal utility, task satisfaction, and the self-appraisal hypothesis of Type A behavior.

Strube's (1987) self-appraisal model of Type A behavior suggests that externally mediated performance goals that are useful for assessing task-related competencies will possess greater utility and be more satisfying to Type A persons than to Type B persons. In contrast, because Type Bs may have an aversion to competency verifications, they should be more satisfied than Type As when goals are uninformative about task-related competencies. The 102 undergraduate Ss performed either a word puzzle or proofreading task under 1 of 4 goal conditions that varied in terms of the goal's instrumentality for assessing competencies and for obtaining a financial incentive. Results are generally consistent with this prediction, thereby providing verification for one of the more basic propositions derived from the self-appraisal model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Type A behavior pattern and the judgment of control.

Investigated the control judgments of Type A (coronary-prone) and Type B (noncoronary-prone) actors and observers after 5 tasks in which actual response–outcome contingency and success were varied systematically. 40 male and 40 female undergraduates, classified as Type A or B on the Jenkins Activity Survey, performed the control task or served as observers in same-sex pairs. Overall, actors provided higher control judgments than did observers, and both actual contingency and success influenced judged control. Type A and B actors did not differ in their self-perceptions of control, but observers judged the Type A actors to have exerted more control than the Type B actors, primarily on positive contingency tasks. Findings suggest that Type A's, because of their more dynamic style, may be credited by observers with more control or competence than is warranted. By contrast, the more relaxed style of the Type B may lead to lower than warranted evaluations of control or competence. Type A's were found to learn the contingencies better than Type B's, which has important implications for the actual exercise of control. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Heart rate perception in the Type A personality.

Compared 28 male students with Type A (coronary prone) behavior with 28 Type B (noncoronary prone) behavior males for accuracy in estimating their own heart rates at rest and in response to a mild cognitive stressor. Type A behavior was measured by the Jenkins Activity Survey of D. S. Krantz et al (1974). Both types had significant heart rate increases in the stress periods, but these were greater for Type A Ss. Type A Ss overestimated their heart rate at rest and during stress more often than did Type B Ss. Feedback resulted in more nearly correct estimations by both groups. Type A Ss perceived themselves as being more aroused than did Type B Ss, a finding inconsistent with the hypothesis that Type A individuals underestimate their response to stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-regulated exposure to erotica, recall errors, and subjective reactions as a function of erotophobia and Type A coronary-prone behavior.

Tested the hypotheses that "erotophiles" would spend more time viewing erotica and remember the content of the material more accurately than "erotophobes," and the Type A (coronary prone) Ss would spend less time viewing erotica than Type B (non coronary prone) Ss. 36 male and 34 female undergraduates completed a sexual opinion survey and the Jenkins Activity Survey—Form T. Ss then individually viewed 21 explicit heterosexual slides, with duration of exposure time controlled by each S. As hypothesized, erotophiles had longer exposure times than erotophobes and, as a consequence, made fewer errors in recalling content. Coronary-prone behavior interacted with erotophobia in a consistent though unanticipated way. Among Type As, exposure time and errors were unrelated to erotophobia, but the predicted effects occurred for Type Bs. It appeared that the time-relevant orientation of Type As outweighed the ordinary effects of emotion-based reaction to erotic stimuli. Significant effects on self-reported feelings were also found, as were several sex differences. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Type A behavior in women: A review.

Discusses characteristics of the Type A (coronary prone) behavior pattern in women in studies of demographic characteristics, physiological responses, laboratory performance, and personality. The incidence of Type A behavior in the US is comparable for men and women when socioeconomic factors are controlled. Type A behavior in women is positively correlated with socioeconomic status (SES), occupation, education, and incidence of coronary heart disease. Type A women tend to show greater autonomic arousal to laboratory stressors as well as greater time urgency and speed, more goal directedness, a preference to work alone under stress conditions, and more competitiveness/aggressiveness than Type B women. Type A positively correlates with various estimates of anger, hostility, and masculine sex role orientation. Depression and anxiety in Type A's are found to vary as a function of sex role orientation and locus of control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress among managers: The importance of dynamic tasks, predictability, and social support in unpredictable times.

In this field study, we examined the importance of dynamic tasks as stressors faced by managers. Predictability of a task and social support by mangers’ supervisors were considered as potential moderators of the interrelation between stressors and stress effects. A total of 142 managers (64 women, 78 men) from 46 German companies took part in our study. As expected, the more tasks were perceived as dynamic, the higher was the irritation level. This correlation was significant, but low as could be expected when choosing a single predictor to explain the level of irritation. Dynamic tasks and predictability were unrelated features of the work task. Predictability of a task had a moderating effect in that the interrelation between dynamic tasks and irritation was stronger when predictability was low. When managers perceived low support from their supervisors, the interrelation between dynamic tasks and irritation was stronger as well. We were able to evaluate the specific demands of managers in a rapidly changing environment. Our results demonstrated that dynamic tasks do not necessarily lead to impaired health. Managers’ supervisors can play an important role by reflecting on how to impose change for the managers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)