Type a personality behavior
Do you Have a Type A Personality? Type A Personality Traits, Stress Management Strategies, and More
Written by Ayisha Sharma
Medically Reviewed by Poonam Sachdev on November 09, 2021
In this Article
- Are Type A Personalities Stressed Out?
- Is it Bad for Your Health to Be a Type A Personality?
- How Do Type A Personalities Manage Stress?
- What Are Type B Personality Traits?
The phrase "Type A" refers to a pattern of behavior and personality associated with high achievement, competitiveness, and impatience, among other characteristics.
In particular, the positive traits of a Type A personality include:
- Self-control
- Motivation to achieve results
- Competitiveness
- Multi-tasking skills
Meanwhile, the more difficult traits that come with a Type A personality definition include:
- Chronic competitiveness
- Impatience
- Aggression
- Hostility
Are Type A Personalities Stressed Out?
Yes. Because of tendencies to engage in urgent and achievement-oriented behavior, people with a Type A personality may feel more stressed or develop stress-related disorders.
Other characteristics that make people with a Type A personality likely to experience stress include:
- Impatience: People with a Type A personality often feel like they're constantly racing against the clock.
- Competitiveness: People with a Type A personality are highly competitive and so might criticize themselves a lot when they fail to "win."
- Hostility: People with a Type A personality are easily angered and might see the worst in others, sometimes lacking a compassionate outlook.
- Achievement-oriented: People with a Type A personality tend to base their self-worth on external achievement and may have a poor work-life balance because of their constant need to prove themselves.
Is it Bad for Your Health to Be a Type A Personality?
There is some evidence that the Type A personality trait of hostility, in particular, might contribute to the development of CHD.
In one trial of men, researchers found that more than twice as many people with a Type A personality developed CHD when compared to people with a Type B personality. By the end of the study, it turned out that 70% of the men who had developed CHD had Type A personalities.
However, because the trial only looked at adult men, it's unclear if the results can be applied to everyone with a Type A personality. In fact, later studies in women have not shown such a big difference between Type A and Type B personalities when it comes to health outcomes, suggesting that how people cope with their Type A personality traits is just as important as the traits themselves.
How Do Type A Personalities Manage Stress?
If you have a Type A personality or relate to the aforementioned characteristics, it's important to find healthy ways of managing your stress. These strategies could include:
- Exercise:
Working out releases hormones like endorphins, which help increase feelings of pleasure.
- Yoga: This is a form of activity based on slow movement and stretches that help relieve anxiety and improve mindfulness.
- Meditation: Meditation can help reduce stress, anxiety, and chronic pain while simultaneously raising your mood and overall energy levels.
- Diet: certain nutrients like magnesium, Vitamin C, and omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to reduce the physiological effects of stress.
What Are Type B Personality Traits?
People with a Type A personality are often contrasted to people with a Type B personality, which is associated with the following traits:
- Easygoing attitude
- Low competitiveness
- Low frustration
- Lacking the desire to prove oneself
When it comes to Type A vs Type B personality, there's no clear "winner." As with all personality types, people who fit either the Type A or Type B personality type have both positive traits and flaws they should work on.
In fact, personality types are best understood as a spectrum with extreme Type A traits on one end and extreme Type B traits on the other. Most people tend to fall somewhere along the spectrum rather than right at its ends.
Characteristics, Traits, What It Means To Have It
Jump to section
Types of personalities: What's it all about?
What is a Type A personality?
8 traits of the Type A personality
How can you deal with Type A personality?
How to change Type A personality behaviors
5 tips to live well with a Type A personality
If you’re ever bored, the internet can keep you occupied with near-endless personality quizzes.
You’ll find breezy Buzzfeed quizzes, as well as more detailed options like the Big Five Inventory or Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. The sheer volume shows that people never get tired of finding out their personality type.
Our personality traits are what make us unique. We love to learn more about ourselves, and having a sense of our traits gives us a better understanding of what makes us tick.
Maybe a few of your personality quizzes have told you that you have Type A personality (even if they named it something different). You might be secretly thrilled. Or a little embarrassed. People often joke about it, but what does it really mean? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?
Get to know more about this personality type. By doing so, you’ll have a better understanding of yourself and potentially feel more comfortable with who you are.
Types of personalities: What's it all about?
Cardiologists Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman began their research on Type A personality traits in the 1950s.
Typically, Type A personalities are discussed in contrast to the more low-key Type B personality type. In general, people with Type B personalities are much more laid back and relaxed. Type B personalities are still creative and driven, but they’re far less rushed with their work compared to Type A personalities. Both feel stressed and overwhelmed at times, but people with a Type B personality have an easier time managing their stress levels.
While some personality traits may overlap, certain characteristics help draw the line between others. The main personality types are Type A, Type B, Type C, and Type D.
Here are a few characteristics that define the other personality types besides Type A.
Type B personality:
- You’re more laid back and relaxed
- You have a lot of creative ideas
- You’re driven, but not rushed to achieve your dreams
- You have a good grasp of how to manage your stress levels
Type C personality:
- You work well with others and are very collaborative
- You’re quiet and tend to keep to yourself
- All of your friends say you’re thoughtful and generous toward others
- You’re consistent with your goals and focused on your work
Type D personality:
- You struggle with mental health and wellness
- You have trouble opening up to people
- Your self-confidence is low
- You tend to have a pessimistic attitude and criticize yourself a lot
Type D is a less common personality type that can be linked to mental health and wellness concerns.
People with a Type D personality might have trouble opening up and feeling confident about themselves. Their characteristics include being nervous with social interactions, having pessimistic viewpoints, feeling the need to isolate themselves, and possessing heavy self-criticizing habits.
What is a Type A personality?
Now, let's dive into the Type A personality. Many people may think of Type A individuals as impatient, extroverted, workaholics, and competitive. Type A behavior patterns carry an intense sense of urgency to everything they do.
But there's a lot more to study and know about the Type A personality.
Certain situations can have an impact on Type A personalities. Workplaces that force their employees to be competitive and work hard often cause higher levels of stress. High-stakes jobs that demand perfectionism from their employees can heighten Type A individuals. It can also influence others to adopt similar characteristics.
Some individuals are more inclined to have Type A personality traits, such as being impatient, extremely organized, and highly driven.
But one’s environment plays a significant role in how these people behave. The more stressful the environment is, the more stressed the individuals.
8 traits of the Type A personality
Like every other personality type, there are pros and cons to being Type A.
Recognizing the qualities associated with this personality type can be very helpful. The pros can help your career and lifestyle, while a grasp of the cons could help you identify potential negative traits.
Here are pros and four cons to be aware of for Type A individuals:
Pros
- You’re motivated to achieve your goals no matter what challenges you face
- You’re quick to make decisions, but you're methodical and strategize well
- You’re unafraid to take a leadership role in projects or work
- You can multitask to get jobs done faster
Cons
- You feel the need to take on a lot of projects at once that can increase stress
- You react with hostility and irritation when someone questions your work
- You neglect your mental health to achieve your goals
- Your stress could lead to hypertension (also known as high blood pressure), a condition that heightens the risk of heart disease
A BetterUp coach can help you work with your strengths and understand how your traits and characteristics may negatively or positively impact your professional and personal life.
Find out what it feels like to have a coach that personalizes your plan to make you feel comfortable and healthy with your personality.
How can you deal with Type A personality?
Let's say you have a Type B personality and your best friend has a Type A personality. You may find you need a few strategies to keep your relationship happy and healthy.
Here are tips for how to deal with Type A individuals:
Have open lines of communication
Your Type-A friend can sometimes get a little dominating with their attitude. They like to speak their minds and get right to the point. Rather than avoid them, try to sit down and talk about dealing with what's going on.
Be open and let them speak their minds. Sometimes the work they pile on themselves can overwhelm them, so it's essential to be supportive and listen if they have any problems.
Understand that negative personality traits are part of life
Everyone has their faults, including you. Don't forget that someone with a Type A personality has excellent qualities and traits to them as well.
Negative behavior or traits aren't always purposeful. You're going to encounter people with all different types of personalities.
Next time someone does something that makes you upset, talk to them about what's happening and why you feel the way you do.
How to change Type A personality behaviors
If you’re a Type A personality, know this: You can adjust the more harmful traits associated with this personality type. It's okay to acknowledge that you may tend to be impatient. That's you being your authentic self. But some behaviors can be off-putting to friends and colleagues. In that case, you may want to adjust them.
Read these three tips and think about how you can implement them into your daily routine:
1. Make changes to your work life
Is this new job you've started making your stress levels go through the roof? Think about how you behave at work and your work habits. Are you turning into a workaholic? Making changes to your work will help balance out your personal life.
This could lead you to practice more relaxing, slower-paced hobbies rather than letting your ambitions consume you.
2. Get a pet
Having an animal that you're responsible for taking care of can remind you of the simple things in life. It can help lower your high blood pressure and give you something to smile about each day. Plus, some pets will help you socialize and exercise more.
3. Start journaling
If you have a lot of feelings, your journal is ready to hear them. You can write them all down at the end of the day, and it will help with processing. Your journal is also a place where you can hold yourself accountable.
Do you have a specific trait that you want to work on? Treat your journal as a record so that you can go back and be more aware of what makes you act that way. You can also write down any solutions or positive moments in your progress.
5 tips to live well with a Type A personality
Every quality about you makes up your identity, and that's not something to forget.
If you find that your personality traits are overwhelming you and you're looking for some tips on how to manage them, keep these five strategies in mind:
- Prioritize your well-being over pleasing others and taking on more work
- Talk with a trained therapist or see a doctor about any health problems
- Practice relaxation techniques that work best for you, not what other people find helpful
- Actively take breaks from your work
- Remind yourself that you're special and loved just the way you are
Our professional BetterUp coaches are ready to support you with whatever changes you want to make in your life. BetterUp coaches can help you embrace the positive aspects associated with a Type A personality while sharing practical strategies to reduce stress and other potentially harmful tendencies. Get started with us today.
Personality types: main differences and their characteristics
Contents of the article
All people are different: someone likes to lead an active lifestyle and communicate a lot, it is easier for someone not to stand out among others, someone is prone to sensitivity and excessive self-criticism.
Since ancient times, scientists and philosophers have been interested in the topic of personality classification, many theories have been developed, some of which have become part of modern psychology. In this article, we will briefly analyze the psychological types that the Soviet scientist A.E. Lichko developed while observing adolescents. It is in adolescence that individual character traits and psychological characteristics are quite strongly manifested, which are smoothed out during growing up, but can manifest themselves at a moment of crisis. Even more types of personality classifications can be found in the free online course "Typology of Personality" on the platform "Russia - a country of opportunities".
Asthenoneurotic type
People with a weak nervous system who are characterized by low stamina, irritability and overwork. They get tired more from psychological stress than from physical exertion. When working for a long time, they need frequent breaks, in general they like to work at their own pace.
Such people are hard to switch from one activity to another, it is better not to distract them from the process once again. Any unforeseen situations cause them irritability and anxiety. But these people are very careful and disciplined, they can spend hours doing monotonous work that does not require speed.
Unstable type
Complex personality type, which is characterized by irresponsibility, idleness and addiction, for example, from alcohol, drugs, games. Such people strive for pleasure, they want to constantly relax and have fun. They often have problems with work, they do not want to study and grow professionally. This type of personality can be called a real hedonist who sees entertainment and enjoyment as the main goal of his life. The positive features include openness and sociability.
Conformal type
People who strive to live like everyone else and do not want to stand out from the crowd once again. The opinion of others is very important to them, they try to earn the praise and approval of others.
Basically, the way of life of such people directly depends on the society in which they live. If there are religious people around them, then the conformist will be a believer to the point of fanaticism. It is also difficult for them to change something in their lives, it is difficult to pull them out of their comfort zone. Positive features include low conflict, friendliness, devotion and diligence.
Labile type
Empathic people who can feel the mood and feelings of others well. They often make outstanding psychologists and social workers. They are open and always ready to help and support with a kind word. But this type is very sensitive and touchy, does not tolerate criticism in his address, cannot stand loneliness and changes in life.
Cycloid type
People who are prone to sudden mood swings experience strong emotions - either they are overly happy, or they feel sad on the verge of depression. They cope with internal experiences for a long time, they are distinguished by excitability and irritability, sometimes aggressiveness.
The positive traits include sociability and friendliness.
Sensitive
People with excessive impressionability, vulnerability and openness. They can get excited about simple things that most people don't notice. They also keep pleasant and unpleasant memories for many years, which flash in memory as if in reality. This type of personality is difficult to tolerate public criticism, is very afraid of being ridiculed. Positive traits include increased morality, compassion and sociability.
Psychasthenic type
People who are prone to introspection and reflection like to delve into themselves and criticize for shortcomings. They have an excellent memory, so they remember their mistakes well and often engage in self-flagellation. Hence, they have a lack of confidence in their abilities, they take too long to make decisions, doubt and are afraid to stumble again. The positive features include loyalty and reliability, they will never betray loved ones and will always stand up for their own.
Schizoid type
Closed and unsociable people who do not know how or do not want to build close relationships with others. But they do a great job of maintaining business relationships. They have a rich inner world, into which they prefer not to let anyone in. Many people have high intelligence and out-of-the-box thinking. But they practically do not know how to recognize other people's emotions.
Epileptoid type
The most complex type of people, prone to breakdowns, aggression and pedantry. They seek to subjugate everyone, to win an authoritarian position. Such people do not know how to build friendly relations at all, they can vent evil on others, they are very scrupulous about the work of employees. But personalities of this type can be strong leaders.
Hysterical type
Personality type requiring increased attention to oneself. They need constant admiration and reverence. Indifference to their person is the worst scenario for them.
Such people are prone to fantasy and lies in order to create a vivid image for themselves. However, they make excellent actors and presenters.
Hyperthymic type
Active and cheerful people who are almost always in high spirits. They are sociable, a little frivolous, generally do not tolerate monotony and monotony, often prone to unjustified risk.
Types of personality behavior
According to the concept of the American psychologist McGuire, the classification of human behavior and actions should be carried out depending on the goals, needs, situation. A need is an experienced and perceived state of a person's need for something (food, clothing, security, love, etc.). The goal shows what a person is striving for, what result he wants to get. The same goal can be set based on different needs.
1. Perceptual behavior - the desire to cope with information overload through perceptual categorization, as a result of which the variety of influencing information is classified, simplified and can lead to both a clearer understanding of what is being assessed and the loss of meaningful information.
2. Protective behavior – any real or imaginary actions of psychological defense (rejection, substitution, projection, regression) that allow you to create, maintain a positive image of "I", a positive opinion of a person about himself.
3. Inductive behavior - people's perception and evaluation of themselves based on the interpretation of the meaning of their own actions.
4. Habitual behavior - satisfaction from positive reinforcement - creates a greater likelihood of reproducing familiar behaviors in appropriate situations.
5. Utilitarian behavior - a person's desire to solve a practical problem with maximum achievement (subjective experience of the maximum possible success).
6. Role behavior in accordance with role requirements, circumstances that force a person to take some action (even if it does not coincide with personal aspirations).
7. Scripted behavior – a person is an executor of a set of rules of acceptable "decent" behavior corresponding to his status in a given culture, society.
8. Modeling behavior – variants of behavior of people in small and large groups (infection, imitation, suggestion), but difficult to control both by the person himself and by other people.
9. Balancing behavior – when a person has simultaneously conflicting opinions, assessments, attitudes and tries to "reconcile" them, harmonize them by changing their assessments, claims, memories.
10. Liberating behavior - a person seeks to "secure himself" (physically or his reputation) from real or apparent "negative conditions of existence" (to maintain the stability of his internal emotional state through active external actions: avoid possible failures, rejection of unattractive goals, compliance.
11. Attributive behavior - active elimination of contradictions between real behavior and subjective system of opinions, weakening, elimination of cognitive dissonance between desires, thoughts and real actions, bringing them to mutual correspondence.
12. Expressive behavior – in those areas in which a person has achieved a high level of skill and satisfaction from "a job well done", while maintaining a consistently high self-esteem, the constant reproduction of which is the main regulator of everyday social behavior.
13. Autonomous behavior - when the feeling of freedom of choice (even the illusion of such a choice and control of one's actions) creates a person's readiness to overcome any barriers on the way to achieving the goal (a high level of internal "locus of control" of one's actions, self-image as an active " doer", and not the executor of someone's orders, someone's will).
14. Approving behavior – experience of one's actions as fulfillment of one's plans with maximum use of one's own internal conditions.
15. Exploratory behavior – striving for the novelty of the physical and social environment, readiness to "tolerate" information uncertainty, "reduction" of various external information to a form to which previously mastered methods of its processing are applicable.
16. Empathic behavior - accounting, a large coverage of sensory information underlying the interpersonal interaction of people, the ability to feel and understand the emotional and mental state of another person.
Needs
Need - suggests the absence or shortage of something necessary for balance.
Desire is associated with a feeling of need or biological (eat, sleep) or smart (read).
The classification of motives according to A. Maslow is as follows:
| Physiological needs: | hunger, thirst, sexuality, etc., insofar as they are of a homeostatic and organismic nature; |
| Security needs: | security and protection from pain, fear, anger, disorder; |
| Social networking needs: | needs for love, affection, social connection, identification; |
| Self-esteem needs: | need for recognition, approval; |
| Self-actualization needs: | realization of one's own abilities and abilities; need for understanding and understanding. |
Self-actualization can become a motive for behavior only when all other needs are satisfied. In the event of a conflict between the needs of different hierarchical levels, the lowest need wins.
The needs of the lower levels A. Maslow called deficient , and the higher - growth needs .
A. Maslow pointed out that there are differences between lower and higher needs. Here are some of them:
1. Higher needs are genetically later.
2. The higher the level of need, the less important it is for survival, the further its satisfaction can be pushed back and the easier it is to get rid of it for a while.
3. Living at a higher level of need means higher biological efficiency, longer duration, better sleep, appetite, less disease, etc.
4. Higher needs are subjectively perceived as less urgent.
5. Satisfaction of higher needs more often results in fulfillment of desires and personal development, more often brings happiness, joy and enriches the inner world.
Motivation
Motivation is a set of factors that determine behavior, describes the relationship that exists between an action and the reasons that explain or justify it.
The motives of behavior can be both unconscious (instincts and drives) and conscious (aspirations, desires, desires). In addition, the implementation of a particular motive is closely related to volitional effort (arbitrariness - involuntary) and control over behavior.
Instinct is a set of innate human actions, which are complex unconditioned reflexes necessary for adaptation and performance of vital functions (food, sexual and protective instincts, self-preservation instinct, etc.
).
Attraction is most characteristic of very young children. Attraction is most closely connected with the elementary feelings of pleasure and displeasure. Every feeling of pleasure is associated with a natural desire to maintain and continue this state. This is especially noticeable when, for one reason or another, sense gratification is interrupted. In these cases, the child begins to show a state of greater or lesser anxiety. On the other hand, every unpleasant feeling is accompanied by a natural desire to get rid of its source. Since the characteristic feature of the drive, for all its unconsciousness, is its active character, it must be considered as the initial moment of the development of the will. Inclinations in their pure form are characteristic of infancy, when the needs are strong, and the consciousness is still weak and undeveloped.
Aspiration. As the child's consciousness develops, his instincts begin to be accompanied at first by a still vague, and then by an increasingly clear consciousness of the need he is experiencing.
This occurs in those cases when the unconscious desire to satisfy the need that has arisen encounters an obstacle and cannot be realized. In such cases, the unsatisfied need begins to be realized in the form of a still vague desire for a more or less definite object or object with which this need can be satisfied.
Desire. Its characteristic feature is a clear and definite idea of the goal towards which a person aspires. Desire always refers to the future, to what is not yet in the present, what has not yet arrived, but what we would like to have or what we would like to do. At the same time, there are still no or very vague ideas about the means by which a clearly set goal can be achieved.
Desires are a higher stage in the development of motives for action, when the representation of the goal is joined by the idea of the means by which this goal can be achieved. This allows you to make a more or less solid plan to achieve your goal.
Compared with a simple desire, desire has a more active, businesslike character: it expresses the intention to carry out an action, the desire to achieve the goal with the help of certain means. The idea of the goal itself becomes more definite and concrete, more real, to which the knowledge of specific means and ways of achieving the goal, expressed in desire, contributes to a large extent.
.
Styles:
· The motive of self-affirmation — desire to assert oneself in society; associated with self-esteem. A person tries to prove to others that he is worth something, seeks to obtain a certain status in society, wants to be respected and appreciated.
· The motive for identifying with another person is the desire to be like a hero, an idol. This motive encourages work and development. It is especially relevant for teenagers who try to copy the behavior of other people.
· The motive of power is the desire of an individual to influence people. Motivation of power is one of the most important driving forces of human action. This is the desire to take a leadership position in the group, an attempt to lead people, to determine and regulate their activities.
· Procedural-content motives — motivation for activity by the process and content of activity, and not by external factors. A person likes to perform this activity, to show his intellectual or physical activity. He is interested in the content of what he does.
· The motive for self-development is the desire for self-development, self-improvement. This is an important motive that encourages the individual to work hard and develop. This is the desire to fully realize their abilities and the desire to feel their competence.
· Achievement motive — striving to achieve high results and mastery in activity; it manifests itself in the choice of difficult tasks and the desire to complete them.
