Cardiovascular correlates of type A behavior components during social interaction.
This study examined the cardiovascular (CV) correlates of the primary Type A behavior components during social interactions. Brief dialogues were created to role-play (RP) stereotypic Type A and Type B ways of responding to three common social situations designed to elicit hostility (H), time-urgency (T), and competition (C). Situations and dialogues were validated by independent raters. Thirty undergraduate students were identified as Type A and 30 as Type B, with 15 males and 15 females in each group. Subjects were provided scripts for each of the six experimental RPs and rehearsed them prior to the CV assessment. Measures of systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP) and heart-rate (HR) were obtained during an adaptation period and during each RP. Analyses of the "A" (i.e. H, T, C) versus "B" (i.e. non-H, non-T, non-C) RPs indicated that DBP (p less than 0.03) and HR (p less than 0.002) were higher during the H as compared with non-H RP. Significantly higher SBP was observed in the T as compared with the non-T RP (p less than 0.04). No CV differences were observed in the comparison of the C and non-C RPs. Analyses comparing the three "Type A" RPs revealed higher SBP during H and T RPs, as compared with the C RP (p less than 0.003). Effects of subject Type (i.e. A/B) were not obtained in any analysis. These findings indicate that hostile and time-urgent social interactions are associated with significant increases in CV arousal which are independent of overall Type status.
Delamater
A M
AM
Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202.
Albrecht
R
R
Smith
J A
JA
Strube
M J
MJ
D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002320:Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; D003163:Competitive Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006791:Hostility; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D014434:Type A Personality