Individual Differences in Physiological Responses and Type A Behavior Pattern.

Abstract

Abstract.The relationships between individual differences in psychophysiological responses and tendency of Type A behavior pattern (TABP) were investigated during mental arithmetic (MA) at a steady rhythm, challenging calculation (Uchida-Kraepelin serial addition test: UK test), music listening, and exposure to an 80 dB SPL of white noise. Each mental task was sustained for 5 minutes. Sixteen healthy Japanese adults, (10 males and 6 females) with an age from 18 to 36 years old volunteered for this study. The KG's Daily Life Questionnaire (KG Questionnaire) was used to investigate the tendency toward TABP, which included three sub-factors: aggression-hostility, hard-driving and time urgency, and speed-power items. Recorded physiological variables were respiratory rate (RR), skin resistance response (SRR), eyeblinks, and heart rate (HR) calculated using frequency analysis to render high frequency power (HF) and the ratio of low/high frequencies (L/H ratio). During the MA and UK tests, significant increases in HR, L/H ratio, RR occurred, while significant decreases in HF were observed. Eyeblinks significantly increased during the MA test and significantly decreased during the UK test. During music and white noise, no significant changes occurred except for SRR, which decreased significantly. The coefficient of variances in each response was over 20% for almost all variables, indicating that individual differences in the magnitude of each response were large, even if the direction (increase or decrease) of the change was the same in almost all subjects. The highest correlation coefficients (r) between the mean values of relative magnitude for each variable and TABP scores during the MA and UK tests were obtained for the L/H ratio (MA: r=0.591, UK test: r=0.577) and the RR (MA: r= 0.576, UK test: r= 0.511). These values were statistically significant (p<0.05). Similar results were obtained for TABP sub-factors. Though other investigations have reported relationships between HF and TABP, we found no significant relationship. It was suggested that sympathetic nerve activity became greater for TABP individuals than for Type B individuals under stress conditions.

Type A Eagerness-Energy Across Developmental Periods Predicts Adulthood Carotid Intima-Media Thickness

“…Oishi et al 37 found that under stress conditions Type A behavior patterns determine short-term responses in physiological variables that are controlled by sympathetic nervous system, such as respiratory rate, skin resistance response, and heart rate variability. On the other hand, we have recently shown that in healthy adults cardiac autonomic task-induced reactivity and recovery are associated with carotid IMT.…”

Coordination of Breathing with Nonrespiratory Activities

“…Stressful thoughts may be associated with an increase in respiratory frequency (265), but personality type may be a contributing factor to respiratory responses to emotional stimulation as well (124,175). Performing mathematical calculations generally increases the respiratory, heart, and sympathetic activation rates (208). Imagining activities replicates many of the sympathetic and respiratory activities associated with the actual performance of the task (66).…”

Cardiovascular Responses of Type A and Type B Behavior Patterns to Visual Stimulation during Rest, Stress and Recovery

“…Type A individuals display certain traits with the following special features: passionate and explosive in speech (loud voice and quick speech), hypervigilant and hyperactive, impatient and rushed for time, hard-driving and competitive, ambitious, hostile, and aggressive (Hugdahl, 1995;Lachar, 1993;Oishi et al, 1999;Palmero et al, 2001). On the other hand, Type B behavior pattern (Type B) indivisuals are those who exhibit a behavior pattern with a lower intensity/frequency of such traits/features.…”

“…According to studies dealing with Type A and Type B (Anderson and Lawler, 1995;Oishi et al, 1999;Ward et al, 1986;Williams et al, 1982), Type A indicates relatively enhanced sympathetic reactivity (i.e. increases in systolic blood pressure (SBP), heart rate (HR) and catecholamine secretion).…”