This study was conducted in order to extend the generalizability of a previous study CCappas et al., 1985) that examined the social acceptance of Type A children. One hundred and ninety-six 1 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade children from two public schools were classified as Type A or Type B based on teacher ratings on the Matthews Youth Test for Health (Matthews & Angulo, 1980). Students and teachers then assessed the level of social acceptance of each child. Lastly, behavioral observations were conducted on ~0 of these students. Results indicated that, similar to the prior study, Type A children were socially accepted by their peers. In addition, Type A children received more leadership nominations, less withdrawn nominations, were found to be more active, and had a greater number of friends than Type B children. Contrary to previous findings, no differences were found in the number of peer aggressive nominations received by Type A and Type B children. However, teachers rated these children differently, with Type A's receiving more aggression and hostility ratings than Type B's. Sex differences were also examined. The major implications of this study suggest that the positive characteristics that Type A children exhibit may counterbalance the negative characteristics, thus explaining why aggression is not related to peer rejection in these children.

Since 1975, many studies have attempted to show that Type As are sympathetically hyper-reactive to environmental stimuli compared to Type Bs. Inconsistencies in findings have led Holmes (1983} to 2 challenge the basic assumption that a link exists between the Type A behavior pattern and processes which precipitate development of coronary heart disease. The present.study was an attempt to isolate the organismic variable psycho-physiologic reactivity and demonstrate through a replication-extension of Holmes, McGilley, and Houston (1984} that individual psycho-physiologic reactivity rather than the personality profile of Type A is predictive of heightened arousal due to challenge. Reactive and nonreactive Type As and Type Bs were selected from a pool of 136 male undergraduates. All were exposed to increasingly difficult levels of the WAIS digits recall backwards and block design tasks, during which heart rate, blood pressure, and electrodermal response were measured. Results show reactives evinced significantly higher systolic blood pressure across challenges compared to nonreactives. Types As and Bs did not differ in their physiologic responses to challenges.

The Type A personality has been associated with coronary heart disease and other psychosomatic illnesses. Previous investigators have suggested that a major stress-related feature of the Type A personality is "excessive" striving for achievement, even though ambition is often conceptualized as a positive aspect of personality. The purpose of the present dissertation was to examine whether there are psychological differences in how Type A individuals, compared to their Type B counterparts, approach and respond to an achievement situation, which, in addition to defining the Type A personality, have potential pathogenic health and personal adjustment implications. Three experiments are reported which examined self-directed behavior in an achievement situation where subjects were required to perform sequential general information tests. The results of Experiment I support the hypotheses that Type A individuals, compared to Type B individuals, adopt very high standards for performance, which increase the probability that they will not achieve their personal goals. The results of Experiment II expand on the findings of Experiment I by indicating that in addition to not achieving personal goals, Type A individuals, relative to Type B individuals, also tend to devalue their actual performance. Furthermore, failure to achieve personal goals was associated with increased self-report of psychological distress. The findings of Experiment III replicate previous results and further indicate that failure to achieve personal goals is associated with specific negative consequences of increased anger and decreased self-esteem. The results also indicate that Type A individuals compared to Type B individuals, tend to make internal attributions for failure, while at the same time, they take less personal credit for success. Finally, the results of Experiment III suggest that the Type A personality is related to general negative affective states, psychosomatic illness, and daily stress. Results of the three experiments indicate that there are important psychological characteristics of how Type A individuals approach and respond to an achievement situation, which appear to have pathogenic health and personal adjustment consequences. Recent reconceptualizations of the Type A personality have emphasized a trait-like dimension of hostility, characterized by cynicism, resentment, and suspiciousness toward others as the "toxic" component of the Type A personality. The present study urges that striving toward lofty goals, devaluation of performance, self-blame for failure without taking comparable self-credit for success, along with negative self-evaluation also be viewed as important unhealthy aspects of the Type A personality. / Ph. D.

The Type A behavior pattern (TABP) is a coronary-prone response style characterized by intense ambition, competition, preoccupation with deadlines, and time-urgency. Anger may be the most detrimental aspect of the overall behavior pattern, but few studies have examined how Type As display anger in daily interactions. This study assessed anger expression as well as general conversational skill among Type As and Bs in representative situations. Type As and Bs were also classified based on degree of self-reported anger with skill differences examined among these four groups as well. Behavioral assessment occurred during challenging and non challenging role play scenes and a deception period in which confederates interrupted subjects' progress on a task. Observers, confederates, and subjects rated anxiety, anger, assertiveness, general demeanor, overall social skill, and interest during these conditions. Type As expressed anger less appropriately than Bs in challenging scenes but had greater overall social skill and made more interesting partners across conditions. Type As and Bs with minimal anger received better ratings than those with greater anger. Discussion addresses clinical significance of the TABP and directions for future assessment/treatment of coronary-prone behavior. / Ph. D.

Previous research on the construct and measurement of Masculine Gender Role Stress (MGRS) validates the assumption of sex differences in the appraisal of stressful situations. The present study was designed to extend the validity of the construct, MGRS, by examining its association with a set of physiological responses known as cardiovascular reactivity. Generally, such reactivity is measured in terms of systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and heart rate (HR). Cardiovascular hyper-reactivity has been implicated as the major pathogenic mechanism through which psychological variables such as Type-A behavior and hostility may increase one's risk of coronary heart disease. A major underlying assumption of the dissertation is that the same gender-role socialization which leads to MGRS may also underlie development of Type-A behavior and hostility, and most importantly, cardiovascular hyper-reactivity. Forty-eight male undergraduate students volunteered to complete questionnaires measuring MGRS, Type-A behavior, and hostility, and participated in a one-hour laboratory session in which cardiovascular reactivity was assessed. Measures of SBP, DBP, and HR were obtained during consecutive phases of the assessment: (1) relaxation baseline, (2) the first stressor, (3) relaxation baseline, (4) the second stressor. All subjects were exposed to both stressors, a Cold Pressor Task (CPT) and a structured Masculine Threat Interview (MTI) in counter-balanced order. Subjects were divided into equal groups representing lower, middle, and upper thirds of MGRS. Results indicated that MGRS scores were significantly related to cardiovascular reactivity, specifically the SBP response. Thus, higher levels of MGRS were associated with proportionate increases in SBP reactivity. Within-subjects comparisons demonstrated no difference between stressors, the CPT versus the MTI, for SBP reactivity. Regression analyses indicated that MGRS scores were a better predictor of SBP reactivity than either Type-A behavior or hostility. Together, all three psychological variables accounted for 20% of the variance of systolic reactivity; however MGRS alone accounted for 17% of that variance. These findings add considerable support to the theoretical assumption that gender role socialization plays an important role in men's appraisal of psychological stress, and that such stress has measurable (harmful) effects on cardiovascular physiology. / Ph. D.

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of the Type A behavior pattern to Holland's occupational types and the career choice process. The Type A behavior pattern is characterized by high levels of achievement striving, time urgency, chronic activation and hostility, and is an independent risk factor in the development of coronary heart disease. It was hypothesized that Type A college students would be more attracted than Type B individuals to aspects of a future work environment which would reinforce their Type A behaviors. Previous research had suggested a relationship between the Type A behavior pattern and Holland's Enterprising and Investigative types (Martin, 1986). This study sought to replicate those findings, and further examine the nature of the Type A/B-Holland types relationship. Data were collected from undergraduate students in a variety of academic fields of study. Subjects completed a questionnaire packet consisting of the student version of the Jenkins Activity Survey (Jenkins, Rosenman, and Zyzanski, 1965; Glass, 1977), the Vocational Preference Inventory (Holland, 1985b), and a modified version of the Minnesota Job Description Questionnaire (Rosen, et al., 1972) . The findings demonstrated that the Type A/B pattern is a significant factor in the career choice process. Type A's and Type B's had different levels of attraction to several aspects of a work environment in anticipating a career choice. The study also revealed that Type A/B pattern and the Holland types play separate roles in the career choice process. Implications of the study and future research directions are discussed.

Bibliography: leaves 476-502 / xvi, 502 leaves : ill ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, 1985

Thesis--University of Helsinki, 1990. / Added t.p. with thesis statement inserted.

D.Litt. et Phil. (Psychology) / It is an accepted fact that the incidence of coronary heart disease has reached endemic proportions in South Africa. One of the fastest growing clinical populations in this domain is that of the coronary artery bypass patient. As a result the facilities catering to the biomedical needs of this population are amongst the most sophisticated in the world. However, facilities for the effective psychosocial rehabilitation of these patients are relatively scarce. When they are addressed they tend to focus essentially on secondary emotional factors impeding reintegration back into society. A sadly neglected psychosocial factor and independent risk factor is that of the Type A behaviour pattern. Extensive research in this area has not only found this behaviour pattern to be detrimental to effective rehabilitation but has also found it to be instrumental in the reocclusion of grafted blood vessels resulting in an elevated re-operation rate as well as putting these patients at risk for a potentially fatal coronary event. In an attempt to address this problem a rehabilitation group intervention program adapted for South African conditions was launched. This program was based on the Recurrent Coronary Prone Prevention Project intended for the treatment of post-myocardial infarct patients in San Francisco. Essentially the aim of the project was to ascertain whether this intervention could be applied effectively to the coronary artery bypass population and whether its duration could significantly shortened so as to be more economically viable given the limited economic resources characteristic of the health care services in this country. The modified programme was administered to a group of 13 post-coronary artery bypass graft patients at two local cardiac rehabilitation centres. A second group of 10 patients at these same centres served as a no-treatment waiting list control group, while simultaneously undergoing an aerobic exercise and cardiovascular counselling programme. Results of the study indicate the modified programme to be highly successful in modifying Type A behaviour and its components within the South African context in the post coronary artery bypass patient samples exposed to it. Comparisons of the experimental and control groups after the intervention showed statistically significant differences on the majority of measures. Thus it was- concluded that the modified programme has the potential to be an invaluable aid in the treatment of .this population in South Africa. Presently, however, this sample is being monitored longitudinally in order to ensure that the treatment benefits remain.

M.A. (Psychology) / This study was motivated by the relative lack of research pertaining to the following aspects ofperfectionism: ~ The differences between the personality structure of high and low perfectionists. ~ The trend in available research in respect of perfectionism to regard the high perfectionist individual as maladapted and the low perfectionist individual as normal. ~ The possible association between parental styles and the development of perfectionist behavior in children. The literature describes perfectionism as a multi-dimensional construct. Perfectionism is perceived as consisting of both intra- and interdimensional aspects. The focus of the perfectionist can either be on the self (self-oriented perfectionism), on others (olher-oriented perfectionism) or on expectations from the outside world (socially prescribed perfectionism) (e.g. Hewitt &Flett, 1991a). According to a number of research studies the perfectionist is lnclned to suppress emotions (e.g. Smith, 1990) and harbour irrational thought patterns (e.g. Flett, Hewitt, Blankstein & Koledin, 1991). Interpersonal problems arise because the perfectionist, for example, isolates herself socially, criticizes others (Smith, 1990) and has an extreme need for control within interpersonal relationships (e.g. Mental Health Net, 1999). In spite of research regarding the association between perfectionism and certain personality traits there remains a dearth of findings concerning personality structure and perfectionism in women...