Running head: Type A and B Personalities, Competition and Recall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Type A and B Personalities, Competition and Recall Speed

Carolyn E. Houserman

St. Bonaventure University

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abstract

 

The present study examines two different personality types: Type A personality and Type B personality and there speed to perform recall task in a competitive and non-competitive situation. Previous studies (Stamps, 1988) have shown that a Type A individual is more competitive then a Type B individual when put into a competitive situation. I would like to examine Type A and B’s recall speed in a competitive venue.   A 2 (personality) x 2 (competition) between factorial was designed to test recall speed between the two variables.  A Main effect was predicted stating that Type A would recall faster than B and a Main effect for competition was made stating the recall speed would be fastest with competition. In addition, an interaction was predicted such  that recall of Type A would be greater than B in the competitive but type B would be superior to A in the non-competitive condition. Both predicted main effects were obtained:  the interaction was significant showing that  Type A personalities do recall faster than Type B personalities in competitive situations but no differences were found in non-competitive situations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Type A and B Personalities, Competition and Recall Speed

 Friedman & Rosenman (1974) identified a pattern of behavior that they believed contributed to heart disease; they called it Type A behavior. Type A behavior is characterized as the behavior pattern of individuals who are competitive, impatient, hostile and always striving to do more in less time.  Type B Behavior is the pattern exhibited by people who are calmer, more patient, and less hurried less competitive. Three of the most common characteristics of an individual who exhibits Type A personality are time urgency, competitiveness, and achievement striving. An individual with Type A behavior tends to be impatient, hurries under pressure and is prompt and often early for appointments (Stamps, 1988).   Stamps (1988) performed a study that examined Type A and Type B behavior performance on reaction time using a perceptual search task for 5th and 6th grade boys.  On a perceptual search task, each participant scanned a set of pictures and reported the number of “Snoopy’s” seen in each picture.  A group difference in response time was found, with Type A participants having a lower mean than Type B participants (Stamps, 1988).  The Type A boys were able to do the task in less amount of time then the Type B boys.  The findings indicate the presence of Type A behavior pattern in children. Mueser, Yarnold & Bryant, (1987) looked at the perception of time urgency on both Type A and Type B male college students These undergraduates rated the appropriateness of 158 adjectives as descriptors of time.  Analyses showed that Type A individuals rated adjectives that expressed low speed and low energy as less descriptive of time than Type B individuals.  This study indicates that Type A individuals tend to believe descriptions of time are more accurate when they are high in speed and energy.  Strube (1982) investigated the time-urgency component of the Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern by examining temporal placement of participation in a questionnaire study.  Strube predicted that individuals who were classified as having Type A personality would choose an earlier time as opposed to a later time for participation in the questionnaire study. He found evidence that was consistent with his prediction. College students with high scores on a measure of Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern did arrive earlier for an experimental appointment than did students with low scores (Strube, 1982).                                                                       

One of the most important components of Type A pattern is competitive achievement striving.  It has been suggested that several different motivational factors influence exercise participation and adherence.    Koivula and Hassmen (1989) investigated attitudes toward athletic participation in relation to actual exercise behavior.  Type A individuals reported a more positive attitude towards athletic engagement, especially at competition and elite levels of participation than did the Type B group. 

Results suggested that more Type A individuals engaged in physical exercise to a significant degree and has a more favorable attitude toward competion then Type B

individuals.  A similar study was performed that researched the quality of competitive participation on injured Type A and Type B intercollegiate football players (Carver,

DeGregorio, Gillis, 1981).  It was hypothesized that the specific elements of the Type A pattern, such as competitive achievement striving and aggressiveness, are useful in

athletic competition.  College football players were evaluated by the team’s head coach before the season began and again at midseason. Among Type A individuals and Type B individuals who had been injured by midseason, Type A individuals achieved superior scores on ratings of extreme exertion.  This was reported during practice and during games.  Measurement of Type A behavior pattern such as competitiveness can also be seen in children (Matthews & Angulo, 1980).  One of the purposes of the study done by Matthews and Angulo (1980) was to provide direct evidence that children assessed as Type A, actually behave in a competitive fashion. Children were selected on the basis of Type A or Type B personality and were told to choose a toy automobile to race against the experimenter.  The object of the race was to see which car would cross the finish line first.  Data revealed that Type A individuals won by a large margin.  This study provided evidence that children who portray traits of the Type A behavior pattern often have characteristics, such as competitiveness that adults with Type A also exhibit (Matthews & Angulo, 1980). 

             Research has examined Type A and B performances in competitive situations. The overall conclusion is that Type A personalities are superior to type B in competitive situations. The following study was designed to replicate that finding but furthermore to examine how Type A and B personalities perform in non-competitive arenas. An interaction is predicted such that recall scores will be dependent on the level of competition and personality. Type A personalities have faster recall speeds in competitive situations whereas Type B personalities should be greater Type A personalities in non-competitive circumstances.

Methods

Participants

            For this study 40 female undergraduate students will be selected.  Participants will be told that they will receive extra credit in their psychology course for participating.  They will also be informed that this is a two-day event.

Materials

The Modified Jenkins Activity Survey will be implemented to determine whether participants would be classified as Type A or Type B personality.  This is a measure that is used to obtain accurate and reliable measures of these two different types of personality.    In this test, subjects will be asked a series of questions related to speed, impatience, job involvement, and competitiveness. This survey can be found in Appendix A. This survey is reliable and has demonstrated test-retest reliability between .60 and .70 for time periods in which the subjects were retested 6 months to 4 years later.  Concurrent validity has been established for this survey as well (Jenkins, Zyzanski & Rosenmen, 2003).  The Modified Jenkins Activity Survey is a quick and easy way to distinguish between Type A and Type B personalities. The amount of time it takes participants to complete the memory recall of the word-list in the competitive condition and the non-competitive condition will be measured by using a stopwatch.  Two different word lists will be created, each containing fifteen words. Previous researchers have used word list for the purpose of measuring memorial abilities on tasks.

  Carol Wilkinson and Ira E. Hyman (1998) preformed a study which examined

differences between individual’s errors on word list vs. autobiographical memory tasks in college students.  Participants in this study listened to a recording of five semantically related word lists.  The five word lists were counterbalanced across groups of participants.  Immediately following each word list, the participants attempted to recall the words presented using a blank response sheet.

Procedure

Once it had been determined, by the Modified Jenkins Activity Survey, who was classified as having Type A and Type B personality, the participants were brought back to do the second part of the experiment.  On the second day the participants will be asked to attend carefully to two lists of fifteen words on a projector in both a competitive situation and a non-competitive situation.  It is important that the participants were told to pay close attention to each list in both situations because each word on the list will only be projected for 2 seconds before moving on to the next word.  Immediately following each word list, the participants will attempt to recall the words presented using a blank response sheet.  However, in both the competitive and non-competitive conditions the participants will only have 8 minutes to recall as many words as possible.  The amount of time to complete the task was recorded.  The word list was counterbalanced (ABBA) in order to ensure that competition was affecting the participants’ memory recall rather than the order of the word list.  Participants in the non-competitive condition were told to do their best to complete the task in eight minutes or less. Time will be recorded. Subjects in the competitive situation will be told to do their best in completing the task in eight minutes or less.  At the end of this study all students will be sent a debriefing statement to inform them of the nature of the study. 

 

Results

In this study an analysis of variance was used to determine the differences between type A and B individuals in a competitive verses non-competitive situation and their ability to recall words rapidly. The data for this study was analyzed using an analysis of variance.  The results demonstrated that there was a main effect for competition F (1, 28) = 15.958, p< .05).  Recall  speed  were faster in competitive than  in non-competitive situations.  There was a main effect for personality type F (1, 28) = 12.644, p< .05)  showing that Type  As recall speed was faster than Bs   There was an interaction , F (1, 28) = 8.000 < .05). The interaction exhibits that recall scores speed depend on the personality level and competition. Type A personalities recall significantly more than B personalities in competitive situations but there is no difference in speed between the two personalities in a non-competitive situation. The results are in agreement with my hypothesis such that personality type does affect recall speed and that depends on whether the task is competitive or non-competitive.

Discussion

Though past literature inferred that in a competitive situation, Type A individuals would perform a task with greater speed than Type B individuals, the results were inconsistent with the hypothesis because they did indeed correspond with previous research as was expected.  It was hypothesized that Type A personalities will have faster recall speeds in competitive situations whereas the recall speed of Type B personalities should be the same as Type A personalities in non-competitive circumstances.  The results are in agreement with my hypothesis such that personality type does affect recall speed and that depends on whether the task is competitive or non-competitive.  The results also showed a main effect for competition between Type A and Type B individuals with an interaction. The interaction exhibits that recall scores depend on the personality level and competition.

            Future research should consider intensifying the level of competition.  It seemed that the time pressure and the small groups that were used to instill competition could have created a larger level of competition.  It is suggested that future researchers create an atmosphere that intensifies the competition between Type A individuals and Type B individuals.  Some ideas for this are; using larger groups of participants during the competition, words of encouragement during this competition to motivate individuals to win, and possibly a greater reward for the winners.  Another area researchers are encouraged to examine is, participants who are classified as extreme Type A or Type B personalities.  Lastly, in this study subjects who participated included 40 female undergraduate   For future research it would be interesting to see males included as participants to analyze whether or not the results correspond with this study and other previous research that has been done thus far.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Carver, C., DeGregorio, E. & Gillis R. (1981). Challenge and Type A Behavior

Among Intercollegiate Football Players. Journal of Sport Psychology.

3(2), 140-148.

Jenkins, D. C., Zyzanski, S., & Rosenmen, R.  Jenkins Activity Survey.  The

Psychological Corporation.  Retrieval date: 9/30/2003, http://www.cps.nova.edu/~cpphelp/JAS.html

Koivula, N. & Hassmen, P. (1998). Type A/B Behavior Pattern and Athletic

Participation: Attitudes and Actual Behavior. Journal of Sport Behavior, 21(2),148-166.

Mathews, K. A. & Angulo, J. (1980). Measurement of Type A Behavior

Pattern In Children's Competitiveness, Impatience-Anger, and Aggression. ChildDevelopment, 51(2), 466-475.

Musser, K. T., Yarnold, P. R. & Bryant, F. B. (1987). Type A Behavior and Time

Urgency: Perception of Time Adjectives. British Journal of Medical Psychology,

60(3), 267-269.

Stamps, L. E. (1988). The Type A Behavior Pattern in Children: Relationships With

Performance on Speed Oriented Tasks. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 149(1),

53-60.

Strube, M. J. (1982). Time urgency and Type A Behavior: A Methodological

Note. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 8(3), 563-565.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                  Figure Caption 

Figure 1. Recall Speed and the Relationship Between Competition Level and Personality Type (in minutes)