Type A and B Personalities From a Psychological Perspective Among Medical Students

Abstract

Introduction: Research in the last two decades has shown that people with Type A personality are astronomically competitive, self-critical of performances, endeavor for perfectionism in their vocations, and strive toward goals in their lives without feeling a sense of bliss. Type A individuals will eventually suffer from cardiovascular diseases and heart attacks at an earlier age compared with those with Type B personality who are more inclined to be genial, relaxed, and internally fixated on their feelings and emotions. The main objective of this study was to ascertain the prevalence of Type A/B personalities among a first-year students who opt to study medicine. Methods:Seventy-seven year one medical students registered in the Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain during the academic year 2013-2014 were randomly selected to be involved in this study. Students completed a pre-designed questionnaire that included measures for Type A and Type B behaviors by using JAS (the Jenkins Activity Survey).Results: The number of female and male students was 49 (63.6%) and 28 (36.4%) respectively. Their ages ranged between 17 and 20 years with a mean of 17.8 years. Six different Arab nationalities were represented. The study found that the students with Type A personality exceeded those with B (59 (76.6%) vs. 18 (23.4%)). No significant relationship was found between personality type and other demographic characteristics except for a mild significant relationship (p < 0.053) with sex with more females having Type A than males. Conclusion: The majority of the studied medical students are of Type A personality betokening that such future careers, such as medicine, require extensive commitment and are opted conventionally by students who have Type A personalities. It was also found that more females have Type A than B personality characteristics, a finding that is contrary to the prevalent understanding of the Arab-Islamic society in the context that Arab women are oppressed and less decisive about their future.

Hemşirelik Öğrencilerinin Kişilik Tipleri ile Ayrımcılık Algıları: Korelasyonel Bir Çalışma

“…In the present study, no significant relationship was found between personality type and the participants' demographic characteristics. These results differ slightly from those of a survey conducted with medical students in Bahrain, in which type A personality was predominant overall but was even more prevalent among female students 23 . G. ÜNSAL JAFAROV, A. L. FERREIRA AYDOĞDU, K. ERİŞLİK When analyzing participants' responses to the items in the Bortner Rating Scale, those that had the highest scores (indicating type A personality) were "I am meticulous when it comes to appointments" and "I focus on one thing at a time."…”

“…Many studies in the health field, especially those conducted with nurses and nursing students, have used personality type inventories and examined factors related to personality type [23][24][25] . This may be because of evidence that personality differences can affect professional perceptions, exposure, and responses, and findings of cognitive and motivational differences 23,24 .…”

“…Many studies in the health field, especially those conducted with nurses and nursing students, have used personality type inventories and examined factors related to personality type [23][24][25] . This may be because of evidence that personality differences can affect professional perceptions, exposure, and responses, and findings of cognitive and motivational differences 23,24 . Uyanık et al 26 reported that nursing students' perception of the profession and sources of motivation were affected by many factors and that academicians should take these into consideration when creating educational content.…”