Personality Type Flashcards
What is a Type A personality?
Someone who is competitive, time-urgent and hostile in most situations. Research has linked this personality type to coronary heart disease.
What is a Type B personality?
Someone who is laid-back, relaxed and tolerant of others in most situations.
What is a Type C personality?
Someone who is compliant, avoids conflict and suppresses their emotions, especially anger. Some research has linked Type C with cancer.
Who proposed the idea and Type A and B personality?
Friedman and Rosenman
What was the procedure used by Friedman and Rosenman into Type A and B personalities?
Men were medically assessed as free of CHD at start of the study. Also assessed for personality type, by being asked 25 questions (concerning responses to everyday irritations) in structured interview. Interviews designed to incite Type A related behaviour. Behaviour was observed and measured, then participants classified as Type A or B.
What were the findings of Friedman and Rosenman’s research into type A and B personalities?
8.5 years later, 257 men developed CHD; 70% had been assessed at the start as being Type A (2x as many Type Bs who developed CHD). Type As had higher levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline, higher blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Impatience and hostility causes a raised physiological stress response, which in turn makes them prone to CHD.
Who conducted research into Type C personality?
Dattore
What procedure did Dattore use into Type C personalities?
Studied 200 veterans of the Vietnam war; 75 of them were cancer patients and the rest formed a control group with non-cancer diagnoses. All completed scales to measure repression of emotions and symptoms of depression years before they were diagnosed. Prospective study.
What were the findings of Dattore’s research into Type C personalities?
Found that cancer patients reported significantly greater emotional repression and fewer depression symptoms than non-cancer controls. People who repress their emotions are unlikely to acknowledge they are depressed. Evidence of a link between Type C and cancer-proneness.
