Stress - Type A & B Behaviour and Hardiness

Question 1

State what Type A personalities are like?

Answer 1

Time pressured
Competitive
Angry

Question 2

How can Type A personality be characterised?

Answer 2

Always in a hurry
Intensely competitive both socially and work related
Easily frustrated

Question 3

State some questions that show the characteristics?

Answer 3

“Hobbies are a waste of time”
“I always play to win - even against children”
“When someone annoys me - I fly off the handle”

Question 4

State what Type B personalities are like?

Answer 4

Relaxed
Not Competitive
Calm

Question 5

How can Type B personality be characterised?

Answer 5

Not getting stressed
Not bothered if they get low grades or someone is better than them
Don’t get angry - they are more reflective

Question 6

State some questions that show the characteristics?

Answer 6

“I spend time with friends even if I have something important to do”
“I don’t care whether I make it into the top 10%”
“I don’t understand people who become impatient in traffic”

Question 7

What is a person with Type A behaviour more vulnerable to?

Answer 7

They are more vulnerable to stress related illnesses such as Coronary Heart Disease

Question 8

What has one study shown about the correlation between illness and Type A personality?

Answer 8

A study showed that people that were in waiting rooms for cardiology related illness were inpatient as there was more wearing on the front and armrests of chairs then in other types of waiting rooms such as dermatology

Question 9

What is the scale for testing Type A and B personality called?

Answer 9

Likert Scale

Question 10

What was Friedman and Rosenman’s experiment about?

Answer 10

Interviewing Type A and B personalities to discover whether it has health implications

Question 11

In the F&R experiment what was the % of heart attack patients in Type A?

Answer 11

70%

Question 12

What is a structured interview?

Answer 12

A verbal form of a questionnaire

Question 13

What is a possible problem with the F&R study?

Answer 13

Lifestyle factors affecting it, this may have caused the difference between Type A and B personalities

Question 14

What is an issue with the F&R study?

Answer 14

Low population validity - only done on men meaning that they’re discounting the differences with women and only considering a certain age bracket - differences

Question 15

Which component of Type A behaviour seems to be important when predicting Coronary Heart Disease?

Answer 15

High levels of hostility

Question 16

What did Miller et al Discover about it?

Answer 16

Hostility is a major risk factor and supports F&R and Kewley

Question 17

What are the 3 components are hardiness?

Answer 17

Control
Commitment
Challenge

Question 18

What does control mean?

Answer 18

The belief that you can control things that happen in tour life its not down to fate

Question 19

What does commitment mean?

Answer 19

Sense of purpose and involvement including people as well as careers

Question 20

What does challenge mean?

Answer 20

Life changes are seen as challenges to be overcome rather then stressors

Question 21

What are triggers of stress?

Answer 21

Daily hassles and work place stressors

Question 22

What is type A personality more likely to be?

Answer 22

More likely to be affected by stressors and more vulnerable to stress related illness like CHD

Question 23

What is a Hardy personality more likely to be?

Answer 23

Likely to be less affected by stressor and they are more resilient to the effects of stress

Question 24

Why is having a type A personality a risk factor?

Answer 24

If they are more angry or stressed this can weaken the immune system meaning they are more prone to illness

Question 25

Why is a person with a hardy personality more protected?

Answer 25

Immune system is stronger due to being more relaxed

Question 26

Explain the lander and rodin experiment of 1976?

Answer 26

Compared 2 wards in elderly homes
1 group allowed to decide where their plant was to go and which night to go to the cinema
Group 2 they were just given the plant and told which night

People in group 1 were happier more active and alert and less people had died due to better health

Question 27

How can lander and rodin help to evaluate kobasa?

Answer 27

More control = less illness

Question 28

What is the relationship between type A and hardiness?

Answer 28

Negatively correlated - competitiveness = reduced stress and commitment
Positively - anger