Type A and Type B personality theory
The Type A and Type B personality theory associates two contrasting personality types with different incidence of coronary heart disease. According to the theory, people who are habitually competitive and impatient are labeled Type A, while more relaxed people are labeled Type B. While it was widely discussed in early health psychology research, the theory is now mostly considered historical and is not commonly used in modern personality psychology. Cardiologists Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman, who developed the theory, came to believe that Type A personalities have a significantly greater heart disease risk. Following the results of further studies and considerable controversy about the role of the tobacco industry funding of early research in this area, some reject, either partially or completely, the link between Type A personality and coronary disease. Nevertheless, this research had a significant effect on the development of the health psychology field, in which psychologists look at how an individual's mental state affects physical health.
History
Type A personality behavior was first described as a potential risk factor for heart disease in the 1950s by cardiologists Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman. They credit their insight to an upholsterer who called to their attention the peculiar fact that the chairs in their waiting rooms were worn out only on the arms and on the front edge of the seat. This suggested to Friedman and Rosenman that their patients were getting up from the chairs frequently and were otherwise waiting anxiously. After an eight-and-a-half-year-long study of healthy men between the ages of 35 and 59, Friedman and Rosenman estimated that Type A behavior more than doubled the risk of coronary heart disease in otherwise healthy individuals. The individuals enrolled in this study were followed well beyond the original time frame of the study. Participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire, that asked questions like "Do you feel guilty if you use spare time to relax?" and "Do you generally move, walk, and eat rapidly?" Subsequent analysis indicated that although Type A personality is associated with the incidence of coronary heart disease, it does not seem to be a risk factor for mortality. It was originally called 'Type A Personality' by Friedman and Roseman who defined it as "an action-emotion complex that can be observed in any person who is aggressively involved in a chronic incessant struggle to achieve more and more in less and less time, and if required to do so, against the opposing efforts of other things or other persons." It has now been conceptualized as the Type A behavior pattern.Some contemporary psychologists argue that the Type A and Type B personality concept is outdated and oversimplified. A 1997 study found that Type A behavior, described by traits such as competitiveness and time urgency, could be correlated with higher scores for neuroticism and extraversion in the Five-Factor Model of personality. This suggests a more nuanced understanding of personality traits is necessary.
Even though this personality concept is outdated, some social media users, particularly on TikTok, have started to use it to describe themselves and other users on the app. Non scientific personality types, such as this and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, will often go "viral" due to users liking the easiness and comfort of identifying with them, even if the broadness allowing them to do that is their inherent flaw.
The types
Type A
The hypothesis describes Type A individuals as outgoing, ambitious, rigidly organized, highly status-conscious, impatient, anxious, proactive, and concerned with time management. People with Type A personalities are often high-achieving workaholics. They push themselves with deadlines, and hate both delays and ambivalence. People with Type A personalities experience more job-related stress and less job satisfaction. They tend to set high expectations for themselves, and may believe others have these same high expectations of them as well. Interestingly, those with Type A personalities do not always outperform those with Type B personalities. Depending on the task and the individual's sense of time urgency and control, it can lead to poor results when there are complex decisions to be made. However, research has shown that Type A individuals are in general associated with higher performance and productivity. Moreover, Type A students tend to earn higher grades than Type B students, and Type-A faculty members were shown to be more productive than their Type B behavior counterparts.In his 1996 book, Type A Behavior: Its Diagnosis and Treatment, Friedman suggests that dangerous Type A behavior is expressed through three major symptoms: free-floating hostility, which can be triggered by even minor incidents; time urgency and impatience, which causes irritation and exasperation usually described as being "short-fused"; and a competitive drive, which causes stress and an achievement-driven mentality. The first of these symptoms is believed to be covert and therefore less observable, while the other two are more overt.
Type A people were said to be hasty, impatient, impulsive, hyperalert, potentially hostile, and angry. Research has also shown that Type A personalities may use certain defenses or ways of dealing with reality to avoid difficult realizations. For example, one study found that those with Type A personality are more likely to show higher levels of denial than Type B in stressful situations.
There are two main methods to assessing Type A behavior, the first being a structured interview developed by Friedman and Rosenman, and the second being the Jenkins Activity Survey. The SI assessment involves an interviewer's measuring a person's emotional, nonverbal, and verbal responses. The JAS involves a self-questionnaire with three main categories: Speed and Impatience, Job Involvement, and Hard-Driving Competitiveness.
Individuals with Type A personalities have often been linked to higher rates of coronary heart disease, higher morbidity rates, and other undesirable physical outcomes due to their higher levels of stress, impatience, and competitiveness.
Early studies linked Type A behavior to heart disease, but later research found that this connection was overstated. More recent findings suggest that traits like hostility, anger, and chronic stress, rather than Type A, are more strongly linked to health risks. As a result, hostility is now considered the more important factor in understanding these outcomes. Today, the Type A and Type B framework is mainly discussed in historical and educational contexts rather than used as a primary tool in personality research.
Type B
Type B is a behavior pattern that is lacking in Type A behaviors. A-B personality is a continuum over which one either leans to be more Type A or Non Type A.The hypothesis is that Type B individuals are noted to live at lower stress levels. They typically work steadily and may enjoy achievement, although they have a greater tendency to disregard physical or mental stress when they do not achieve. When faced with competition, they may focus less on winning or losing than their Type A counterparts, and more on enjoying the game regardless of winning or losing. Type B individuals are also more likely to have a poorer sense of time.
Type B personality types are more tolerant than individuals in the Type A category. This can be evident through their relationship style that members of upper management prefer. Type B individuals can "...see things from a global perspective, encourage teamwork, and exercise patience in decision making..."
Type B personality is generally described as being more relaxed and less competitive than Type A personality. People with Type B traits tend to be more patient, experience less time pressure, and are less likely to react to stress with anger or hostility. They are often described as easygoing and calm, especially in situations that might feel stressful to others.
In research, Type B personality is often discussed mainly as a comparison to Type A rather than as its own category. Type B individuals are not automatically healthier. However, some research has linked lower stress and hostility with better health outcomes. Today, many psychologists prefer modern personality models that look at traits on a spectrum instead of placing people into fixed categories like Type A or Type B.
Interactions between Type A and Type B
Type A individuals' proclivity for competition and aggression is illustrated in their interactions with other Type As and Type Bs. When playing a modified Prisoner's Dilemma game, Type A individuals elicited more competitiveness and angry feelings from both Type A and Type B opponents than did the Type B individuals. Type A individuals punished their Type A counterparts more than their Type B counterparts, and more than Type Bs punished other Type Bs. The rivalry between Type A individuals was shown by more aggressive behavior in their interactions, including initial antisocial responses, refusal to cooperate, verbal threats, and behavioral challenges.A common misconception is that having a Type A personality is better than having a Type B personality. This largely comes into play in the workforce because people with Type A personalities are often viewed as very hardworking, highly motivated, and competitive, while Type B personalities often don't feel a sense of urgency to get projects completed and are more relaxed and easy-going. In reality, both personality types are required and bring their own set of strengths to the workplace.
Criticism
Friedman et al. conducted a randomized controlled trial on 862 male and female post-myocardial infarction patients, ruling out diet and other confounds. Subjects in the control group received group cardiac counseling, and subjects in the treatment group received cardiac counseling plus Type-A counseling, and a comparison group received no group counseling of any kind. The recurrence rate was 21% in the control group and 13% in the treatment group, a strong and statistically significant finding, whereas the comparison group experienced a 28% recurrence rate. Later studies suggested that some cardiovascular risks associated with Type A behavior may be reduced through behavioral interventions, though the strength and interpretation of these findings have been debated in later research.Although Type A and Type B personality theory was influential in early research, it is now considered limited by many psychologists. One major criticism is that the theory places people into fixed categories, which can oversimplify personality and ignore individual differences, as many individuals do not fit clearly into a single type.
Modern personality psychology tends to favor dimensional models, such as the Five Factor Model, which measure traits like conscientiousness, neuroticism, and agreeableness along continuous scales. Because of this shift, the Type A and Type B framework is rarely used in contemporary research and has limited predictive value for behavior or health outcomes today.