Type A behavior ( English type A behavior ) is a series of personality characteristics, the presence of which increases the likelihood of an individual having diseases of the cardiovascular system . First described by American cardiologists Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman in 1959 [1] .
This type of behavior is associated with such personality traits as a tense struggle for success, rivalry, easily provoked irritability, overly obligatory profession, increased responsibility, aggressiveness, as well as a feeling of constant lack of time [2] .
Content
ICD-10 classification
Class: Factors affecting the state of public health and health care facilities
History
During medical practice, Meyer Friedman noticed differences in the behavior of people with and without heart failure. In a subsequent survey of executives and colleagues, Friedman found that most of them associate a high likelihood of developing cardiovascular diseases with prolonged exposure to stressful situations, hard work, human competitiveness, and the economic difficulties they face.
To test the hypothesis, Meyer Friedman and his colleague Ray Rosenman conducted a study whose total duration was eight and a half years. The study involved 164 people aged 35 to 59 years. As a result of the study, a model of behavior or a set of characteristics associated with an increased likelihood of occurrence of diseases of the cardiovascular system was described. This model is called "type A behavior." It should be said that the authors also made an attempt to describe the opposite model to her, type B behavior , characterized by a lack of tension, ambition, a feeling of lack of time, a desire for achievements and competitiveness.
The results of Friedman and Rosenman were also confirmed in other studies [3] , 1974 [4] , 1976 [5] and 1980. [6]
Development Factors
Type A behavior is a consequence of the accumulation of the effects of prolonged experiencing of negative functional states, constant emotional tension in the absence of conscious self-regulation. There are 3 components with the greatest pathogenicity: competition, lack of time, hostility [7] . It should be noted that often type A behavior is encouraged by the specific nature of the type of work. As a rule, this kind of professional deformation is typical for representatives of senior positions, middle and senior managers, whose work is associated with high loads and responsibility for achieving results. Often, the consequences of type A behavior are affected by representatives of sports professions, whose activities encourage competitiveness and purposefulness [8] .
Consequences
Type A behavior is an intravitally formed construct that is not an inborn form of personality behavior.
Friedman and Rosenman concluded that Type A behavioral model is the main cause of coronary insufficiency and the resulting blood flow disturbances. The likelihood of heart attacks and the development of severe forms of hypertension in people at risk is 4.5-6 times higher than in people with a balanced type of behavior [9] . In people with type A behavior, the increase in blood pressure, heart rate and release of stress hormones in response to stress factors is much higher than in the rest. Their sympathetic nervous system is hypersensitive to stressors [10] . Type A behavior can also be accompanied by an overestimation of competitors and underestimation of their own strengths, which leads to self-doubt, hyperactivity and, as a consequence, to a decrease in work efficiency [11] .
Notes
- ↑ Friedman M. & Rosenman R. N. (1959). Association of specific overt behavior pattern with blood and cardiovascular findings. Journal of the American Medical Association.
- ↑ Organizational Psychology: Textbook / Ed. ed. A. B. Leonova. M.: INFRA-M, 2013 .-- p. 429.
- ↑ Rosenman R, Friedman M, Straus R et al. Coronary heart disease in the Western Collaborative Group Study: a follow-up experience of 4.5 years. J Chronic Dis. 1970 - p. 173-190
- ↑ Jenkins CDRR, Zyzanski SJ. Predictions of clinical coronary heart disease by a test for the coronary prone behavior pattern. N Engl J Med. 1974; 1274-1275
- ↑ Rosenman R, Brand R, Sholtz R et al. Multivariate prediction of coronary heart disease during 8.5 year follow-up in the Western Collaborative Group Study. Am J Cardiol. 1976 - p. 903-910
- ↑ Haynes S, Feinleib M, Kannel W. The relationship of psychosocial factors to coronary heart disease in the Framingham Study, III: eight-year incidence of coronary heart disease. Am J Epidemiol. 1980 - p. 37-58
- ↑ Nikolaeva V.V. Psychosomatic problem: psychological aspect, 1993
- ↑ Barabanshchikova V.V., Klimova O.A. Professional deformations in sports of the highest achievements. National Psychological Journal. - 2015. - No. 2 (18)
- ↑ Organizational Psychology: Textbook / Ed. ed. A. B. Leonova. M.: INFRA-M, 2013 .-- 429 p. ISBN 978 −5--16 - 006052
- ↑ R. L. Atkinson, R. S. Atkinson, E. E. Smith, D.J. Boehm, S. Nolen-Hoeksema. Under the general editorship of V.P. Zinchenko. Introduction to Psychology. 15th International Edition, St. Petersburg, Prime Euroznak, 2007
- ↑ Barabanshchikova V.V., Klimova O.A. Professional deformations in sports of the highest achievements. National Psychological Journal. - 2015. - No. 2 (18). - S. 3-12.
See also
- Type B Behavior
- Type D Behaviors