Cognitive and behavioral responses to potentially frustrating situations: self-reports of Type A and Type B individuals

The Type A or coronary-prone behavior pattern has been significantly linked to the development of coronary heart disease; however, the psychological and affective aspects of this multidimensional pattern have only recently begun to be investigated. This study, conducted at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, from the Spring of 1983 through the Spring of 1984, was designed to elicit Type A and Type B individuals' cognitive and behavioral responses to potential day-by-day frustrations. Data were collected from 181 adults in the Knoxville area, and Ss were divided according to their scores on the Type A Scale of the Jenkins Activity Survey into two groups of 40 extreme Type A (those scoring in the top 30% of the distribution based on national norms) and 40 extreme Type B Ss (those scoring in the lower 30% of the distribution). The 80 Ss’ responses to a self-report, 16-item questionnaire entitled, "What Pushes Your Button?," were classified by independent raters into the categories of Negative/ Nonnegative Affect and Blaming/ Nonblaming Response in the Cognitive Division and Nonassertion, Aggression, Assertion, Problem-Solving, Neutral and Other in the Behavioral Division. These results were analyzed using a series of Correlated Samples and Independent Samples t-tests as well as the Two-Way ANOVA and Chi-Square.

The results showed that Type A Ss employed significantly more Negative than Nonnegative Affect and significantly more Negative Affect than their Type B counterparts. Both Type A and B Ss reported significantly more Blaming than Nonblaming responses, and Type A and B Ss did not differ significantly in the amount of Blaming they employed. The two groups did not differ significantly in their self-reported Behavioral responses. It was concluded that excessive use of Negative Affect may characterize the Type A individual, and that such habitual negative-thinking strategies could play an important role in the subsequent development of stress-related diseases.