Personality Types

Question 1

Type A personality

Answer 1

Competitive, time urgent and impatient, hostile, aggressive

Question 2

Type B personality

Answer 2

relaxed, patient, express feelings

Question 3

Friedman and Rosenman Study

Answer 3

Used structured interviews which led to 3200 men being categorised as type A, B or X (balance between A and B)
. Men healthy at start of study, researcher provoked the men by being aggressive/interrupting them - men categorised A or B according to their behaviour
^ sample followed up for 8.5yrs
. End of study 257 men developed CHD and 70% were from Type A group

Question 4

Type C personality

Answer 4

(Later identified)
Detail orientated, people pleaser, patient
. They suppress wants and needs and the repression of anger makes them more prone to developing cancer

Question 5

Dattore et al study

Answer 5

Prospective study of 200 veterans of Vietnam war - completed scaled measuring repression of feelings/symptoms of depression

End of study = 75 participants diagnosed with cancer - reported significantly more repression of feelings and less symptoms of depression
^ supports link between type C personality and cancer

Question 6

Evaluation (Transactional model)

Answer 6

Both studies clearly show personality type can affect our health - supports transactional model as shows events are not stressors by themselves but their effects are medaited by psychological factors

Question 7

Other Evaluation

Answer 7

. Myrtek meta analysis of 35 studies found association between hostility and CHD supporting Friedman and Rosenman’s findings

. We’re not pure type A or type B - tend to vary along continuum depending on circumstances and situations we are in

. In individualistic cultures, men are socialised to display type A behaviours - ethnocentric