Type A behavior, attentional style, and symptom reporting among adult men and women.

Abstract

Type A behavior and its components (measured on the JAS) were examined in relation to attentional style and symptom reporting in 294 healthy adult men and women. The results showed that for both men and women the JAS Type A, Job Involvement, and Hard Driving factors were all associated with self-reported attentional effectiveness as measured by the Nideffer Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style. However, a fourth JAS factor, Speed and Impatience, was associated with Nideffer measures of cognitive overload. For both men and women, the Type A, Speed and Impatience, and Hard Driving factors were all positively associated with the number of medical and psychological symptoms reported on the Cornell Medical Index. In addition, acute psychological distress (Hopkins SCL-90R) was associated with Type A behavior for men and with Speed and Impatience for both sexes. Attention differences did not account for the observed positive relationships between Type A factors and symptom reporting with one exception; attentional overload (internal) appeared to partially explain the relationships between symptom reporting and Speed and Impatience in women. In summary, Type As described themselves as having a broader attentional focus and reported more naturally occurring physical and psychological symptoms than did Type Bs.

Relationship between JAS- and FTAS-Type A behavior and non-CHD illness: A prospective study controlling for negative affectivity.

“…Not surprisingly, the JAS and FTAS scales were positively correlated. Of greater interest, but consistent with other reports (e.g., Carmody et al, 1984;Suls & Wan, 1989), both Type A measures were positively correlated with scores on the EPIN. Furthermore, inspection of the distributions of the dependent variables-the 3-month retrospective self-reports of illness and the 18-month prospective health center medical records -indicated significant skewness.…”

“…They found that persons high in negative affectivity exhibit a pattern of somatic overconcern but not necessarily higher incidence of health visits or objective illness than persons low in neuroticism. Consistent with other reports, Type A measured with the JAS and the FTAS was correlated with negative affectivity (Carmody et al, 1984;Suls & Wan, 1989), but this relationship did not account for the lrThe speculation that hostility is specifically a risk factor for vascular disease and not for other diseases would appear inconsistent with reports by Barefoot, Dahlstrom, and Williams (1983) and Shekelle, Gale, Ostfeld, and Paul (1983) that hostility is prospectively related to mortality from all causes. It should be noted, however, that hostility in these studies was measured with the Cook-Medley Hostility (Ho) Scale taken from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI).…”

The relation between Type A behavior and chronic emotional distress: A meta-analysis.

“…1987) suggest that complaints of angina by high FTAS scorers may represent biased perceptions rather than underlying CHD. Furthermore, our results suggest that previously reported associations between the JAS or FTAS and other kinds of illness complaints (e.g., Carmody, Hollis, Matarazzo. Fey, & Connor, 1984) could reflect somatic overconcern (Smith, O'Keefe, & Allred, in press: Suls & Sanders.…”

Heart rate perception in the Type A personality.

“…In a recent study, Carmody, Hollis, Matarazzo, Fey, and Connor (1984) found that Type As reported significantly more medical and psychological symptoms than Type Bs. These findings agree with our study and contrast with the usual finding that Type As underreport symptoms, and so forth.…”