Type A personality and discrepancies between self-report and heart-rate responses to stress

The present study was done to replicate previous findings on the discrepancy between Type A persons' self-reports of stress and their physiological arousal. An attempt was made to clarify whether this discrepancy was due to Type A persons' denial of their arousal or an inability to discriminate physiological change. The students' version of the Jenkins Activity Survey was administered to 30 female students, aged 19 to 43 yr., who then performed a digit recall. A Multiple Affect Adjective Check List and a self-report questionnaire were used to measure affective reactions. Analysis showed that Type A individuals had higher heart-rate responses to stress but did not report greater subjective arousal. These results replicated the previously reported discrepancy. The current findings are somewhat consistent with an explanation based on discrimination.