Psychophysiology of type A behavior pattern: a critical analysis

Based on an analysis of 45 studies recently reported in the literature and data from a psychophysiological investigation, the hypothesized physiological mechanisms underlying Type A behavior and the methods used to determine Type A behavior (e.g., Structured Interview, SI, and the Jenkins Activity Survey, JAS) are tested. After determining behavior type with both the SI and JAS, subjects (N = 58 physical-education students) participated in a laboratory/field experiment with two replications consisting of the following conditions: (1) rest, (2) mental arithmetic, (3) reaction time test, (4) preparing and giving a speech, (5) Cold Pressor Test, (6) bicycle ergometric exercise, and (7) 1000 m run. Blood pressure, heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output, ventricular ejection time, pulse volume amplitude, pulse transit time, pulse wave velocity, electrodermal activity, respiratory volume, oxygen uptake, and uric catecholamine levels were measured. Results of the analysis of the literature indicate that, with the exception of change scores on systolic blood pressure, mean differences on the physiological measures exhibited by Type A and B men are primarily not significant. The Structured Interview shows only a modest inter-rater reliability. The Jenkins Activity Survey demonstrates relatively low stability upon retest and fails to show sufficient internal consistency. Correlations between these measures are low. No consistent differences on physiological measures could be found in our subjects based on behavior type (according to SI or JAS criteria), although the challenging conditions were selected to elicit Type A behavior. Four our data, differences between Types A and B were also not found for systolic blood pressure, regardless of which behavioral assessment method was employed.