Stress - Type A & B Behaviour and Hardiness Flashcards
State what Type A personalities are like?
Time pressured
Competitive
Angry
How can Type A personality be characterised?
Always in a hurry
Intensely competitive both socially and work related
Easily frustrated
State some questions that show the characteristics?
“Hobbies are a waste of time”
“I always play to win - even against children”
“When someone annoys me - I fly off the handle”
State what Type B personalities are like?
Relaxed
Not Competitive
Calm
How can Type B personality be characterised?
Not getting stressed
Not bothered if they get low grades or someone is better than them
Don’t get angry - they are more reflective
State some questions that show the characteristics?
“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”
What is a person with Type A behaviour more vulnerable to?
They are more vulnerable to stress related illnesses such as Coronary Heart Disease
What has one study shown about the correlation between illness and Type A personality?
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
What is the scale for testing Type A and B personality called?
Likert Scale
What was Friedman and Rosenman’s experiment about?
Interviewing Type A and B personalities to discover whether it has health implications
In the F&R experiment what was the % of heart attack patients in Type A?
70%
What is a structured interview?
A verbal form of a questionnaire
What is a possible problem with the F&R study?
Lifestyle factors affecting it, this may have caused the difference between Type A and B personalities
What is an issue with the F&R study?
Low population validity - only done on men meaning that they’re discounting the differences with women and only considering a certain age bracket - differences
Which component of Type A behaviour seems to be important when predicting Coronary Heart Disease?
High levels of hostility
What did Miller et al Discover about it?
Hostility is a major risk factor and supports F&R and Kewley
What are the 3 components are hardiness?
Control
Commitment
Challenge
What does control mean?
The belief that you can control things that happen in tour life its not down to fate
What does commitment mean?
Sense of purpose and involvement including people as well as careers
What does challenge mean?
Life changes are seen as challenges to be overcome rather then stressors
What are triggers of stress?
Daily hassles and work place stressors
What is type A personality more likely to be?
More likely to be affected by stressors and more vulnerable to stress related illness like CHD
What is a Hardy personality more likely to be?
Likely to be less affected by stressor and they are more resilient to the effects of stress
Why is having a type A personality a risk factor?
If they are more angry or stressed this can weaken the immune system meaning they are more prone to illness
Why is a person with a hardy personality more protected?
Immune system is stronger due to being more relaxed
Explain the lander and rodin experiment of 1976?
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
How can lander and rodin help to evaluate kobasa?
More control = less illness
What is the relationship between type A and hardiness?
Negatively correlated - competitiveness = reduced stress and commitment
Positively - anger
