Imagine you’re at work, and your supervisor suddenly announces a new project and puts you in charge. How do you respond?
Do you:
A: Recognize an opportunity to move up the corporate ladder and immediately start drawing up plans and assigning responsibilities.
Or
B: Treat it like just another day in the office and get to it only when you have the time.
If you answered A, there's a chance that you are Type A.
Personality type A has a lot of perks, including confidence and determination, but it also has downsides like increased stress levels and health problems.
If you suspect you are a personality Type A, keep reading because this article will dive into what it all means. We will explore the science behind the Type A personality, the behavior pattern that people who have it exhibit, and how you can manage the stress that comes with these personality traits.
Related: How to Stop Overthinking — 10 Strategies That Work
What Is the Type A Personality Type?
The Type A personality describes people who are ambitious, motivated, and competitive, as well as impatient, brash, and short-tempered. They have lofty goals and well-defined plans for achieving them. But delays or interruptions make them easily agitated, hostile, picky, and intolerant.
You’ve probably already met someone with a Type A personality. You know, that person who puts in extra hours and effort to impress the boss, who gets a little too intense when playing games with friends, and always has a schedule and agenda behind everything they do.
Or maybe the Type A person is you, and it shines through in how you’re always looking for new opportunities to advance your career, how you rehearse a presentation multiple times to perfect every detail, or how you feel anxious and frustrated when things don’t go according to your plan. You may also feel more job stress than your co-workers, often due to self-imposed expectations.
History of Type A Personality Type Theory
Type A is just one-half of the Type A and Type B personality hypothesis that explains personality as a spectrum, with the two types on opposing ends. Strangely enough, psychologists are not responsible for developing this theory of personality. That honor belongs to two cardiologists — Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman.
But what was a pair of cardiologists doing researching personality?
The story is that they discovered the theory by accident. Friedman and Rosenman had hired an upholsterer to redo their waiting room chairs. When he arrived, he noticed that only the front edges and arms of the chairs had worn out, while the rest were intact.
It was as if Friedman and Rosenman's patients only sat on the edge of their seats and constantly gripped the armrests.
The upholsterer informed Friedman and Rosenman of his findings, but neither thought much of it. It was not until five years later that they connected the dots between cardiovascular disease and started researching the Type A personality.
Type A Personality Debunked
In the interest of full disclosure, we must first examine the flaws and controversies before diving deeper into the Type A and Type B personality theory.
The biggest of these controversies concerns the claim that a Type A personality is inherently associated with high blood pressure and that having this personality type increases your risk of coronary heart disease. This proposition was the crown jewel of Friedman and Rosenman’s research, and they claimed that by adjusting their lifestyle and their behavior patterns, people with this “coronary-prone personality” could reduce their chances of developing coronary heart disease.
Friedman and Rosenman conducted an experiment to prove their hypothesis. In it, they compared two groups–one with Type A participants who manifested an intense drive to succeed–and another with Type B personality participants who were more laid back.
The results showed that coronary heart disease was seven times more frequent in Type A personalities than the Type B personality. However, several discrepancies surrounding this study have raised eyebrows about its validity.
For starters, the participants in the study were all male, so it is impossible to expand its conclusions to women. Additionally, except for a few outliers, subsequent studies failed to replicate the supposed link between Type A personality, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and coronary heart disease mortality.
Most damaging was the discovery that significant amounts of Type A research, including those conducted at the Meyer Friedman Institute, was bankrolled by the tobacco industry and cigarette companies in a conscious effort to obscure and redirect blame for the harmful effects of smoking.
However, despite its glaring flaws, the Type A personality theory is not without merit.
Even though its connection with heart disease is dubious at best, the model can still provide valuable insights to help you understand your personality and guide you to live a stress-free life.
Want to learn more about Type B personality? Read this article.
Physical and Behavioral Type A Personality Traits
According to Friedman in his book Type A Behavior: Its Diagnosis and Treatment, you can identify whether you have a Type A personality based on three personality characteristics:
- Free-floating hostility
- Time urgency and impatience
- A competitive drive
While there are individual differences associated with being a Type A, these three personality traits are almost always present, to some degree or another.
Free-Floating Hostility
People with free-floating hostility are in an emotional state where their anger may not have a direct target or cause. This does not necessarily mean that they are “angry people,” but rather, they are often easily frustrated, short-tempered, rude, and irritable.
If you have this Type A personality trait, you have a million pet peeves. Deviations from agreed plans frustrate you, and you are okay with getting into a shouting match to get your point across.
Other physical signs that you have this trait are talking curtly, crossing your arms, and speaking with a loud voice.
Time Urgency and Impatience
People who have Type A personalities tend to be extremely time-conscious. They hate waiting in line and can't stand individuals who are always late. They always try to make the most of every second, no matter what they're doing. Multitasking is a way of life for Type A’s because they always have to accomplish something.
Some other physical characteristics or indicators that you have this trait include speaking, eating, and walking fast; tapping your fingers or foot; and checking your watch every five minutes.
Competitiveness
Type A personalities are highly competitive and don't like to lose. They always strive to be the best in everything they do and are willing to work extra hours if it earns them the top spot. They have immense drive and motivation and always try to outperform their competitors.
If you consistently compare yourself to others, have a detailed one-year, five-year, and ten-year plan, and always strive to impress the boss, chances are you have the competitiveness trait.
What Are Type A Strengths and Weaknesses?
Type A personality traits can affect your personal and professional life in many ways. In this section, we'll examine all the pros and cons of the Type A personality types.
Type A Personality Strengths
Type A persons are among the most driven and ambitious people you’ll ever meet. People in this category often possess these positive traits:
- They don’t procrastinate and always meet deadlines.
- The have specific goals and a clear plan to achieve them.
- They easily overcome challenges.
- They typically lead in group situations.
Type A Personality Weaknesses
People with Type A personalities tend to be more irritable, aggressive, and stress-prone than Type B personalities. That means that:
- They have a higher risk factor for anxiety and depression.
- They may overwork themselves and suffer from burnout.
- Quick agitation and frustration can negatively impact social interaction.
- Their anger may harm their professional and interpersonal relationships.
Is the Type A Personality Prone to Stress?
A study of people with personality Type A revealed that they are prone to higher stress levels, lower job satisfaction, burnout, and work-life imbalance. This increased risk is because of the inherent characteristics of the Type A personality.
As we mentioned earlier, people with the Type A personality are very competitive. They want to win at all costs and often overwork themselves, sometimes even to exhaustion.
As deadlines loom closer and projects become due, the pressure from all their responsibilities may worsen, causing Type A people to feel stressed and overwhelmed. They are unlikely to listen to advice to slow down and take things easy because of their aggressiveness. If the situation is not managed, it can lead to burnout syndrome.
Recognizing your Type A personality can help you avoid this outcome. You can implement lifestyle changes and set personal rules to help you relax and avoid burnout.
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Does a Type A Behavior Pattern Cause Health Problems?
Type A personality traits and behaviors can lead to increased stress, which, if left unmanaged, can make you sick. The body is ill-equipped to deal with chronic stress hormones, so long-term stress can disrupt your body's normal functioning, weaken your immune system, impact your physical health, and lead to illness.
Stress can also affect your mental health. Looming deadlines can cause anxiety and panic, which, if not treated, may cause depression. Type A personalities can often benefit from resilience training to help mitigate the negative impact of stress.
How Do I Know if I Have Type A Personality Traits?
The best way to know if you have a Type A Personality is to take a Type A personality test. The test measures your compatibility with the three Type A personality characteristics (hostility, competitiveness, and time urgency) to determine where on the spectrum you fall.
Most people are a mix of Type A and Type B personalities — with some traits of both — but we classify them based on their dominant type.
Aside from taking the Type A test, You can also infer from the results of your other personality tests whether or not you are a Type A.
Type A Personality Traits and the Big 5
According to research, the Big 5 personality test can reveal different aspects of a Type A personality, especially in Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion. Type A people tend to be low on Agreeableness because they are prone to conflict and aggression. They are high on Conscientiousness because they are competitive and goal-oriented, and they may not be very extroverted because they are impatient and irritable.
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Type A Personality Traits and the Enneagram
If the Enneagram test classifies you as an Enneagram Type 3 (The Achiever), you may also have a Type A personality. Both personality descriptors share a strong drive for success and a concern for their image.
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Type A Personality Traits and the MBTI
The Myers-Briggs cannot accurately tell you if you have a Type A personality, but some of the 16 personality types that may resemble it are ENTJ, ESTJ, and ESTP. These MBTI Types tend to be ambitious, diligent, impatient, and blunt.
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Tips for Managing Stress as a Type A Personality
The key to a healthy and productive life as a Type A person is learning to manage your stress so that it does not interfere with your physical, mental, social, and work life. The following tips can help you moderate your stress levels and achieve a healthy work-life balance.
Establish Clear Work Hours
Being ambitious and working hard to achieve success is admirable, but not if it compromises your well-being and happiness. You can balance your career and personal life better by setting clear boundaries for your work hours and sticking to them. You can use an alarm or ask a co-worker to remind you to stop working when it's time. The key is to have a cut-off time after which you don't do any work.
Set Aside Time to Relax
Type A people tend to be stressed and restless. Relaxing is not easy for you, as you're always busy with tasks or anxious about deadlines. That's why you need to bake relaxation time into your schedule. It doesn't have to take long; 30 minutes is enough. Just make sure that you spend that 30 minutes completely at ease.
Delegate Tasks
As a Type A, you have high standards and preferences. This need for perfection is often associated with higher levels of job related stress. However, you can’t handle everything alone, and it’s unhealthy to try. You must learn to share some of your tasks and accept that people will not always follow your methods.
Exercise Regularly
Regular exercise can help reduce stress, increase productivity, and avoid burnout. When you exercise, your body releases endorphins, the feel-good chemicals that promote happiness and satisfaction.
Additionally, exercise can help improve your sleep quality and sharpen your mind so that you breeze through difficult times with minimal stress. It's also helpful in preventing coronary heart disease for all personality types!
Recite Positive Affirmations
Positive affirmations help you see challenges differently and boost your self-confidence to achieve your goals. They can also help you when you’re stressed. By telling yourself: “I am capable,” and “I stay calm under pressure,” you can keep calm even in stressful situations.
Living with Personality Type A: Reduce Stress and Find Balance
The A Type personality has some great advantages but also some significant stress management challenges. The key to enjoying it is learning to balance your motivated and goal-oriented nature with the stress it causes.
It may not be easy at first, but if you follow the lifestyle changes above and practice self care, you'll flourish with your Type A personality in no time.
Learn more about yourself by taking a personality test today. Discover which assessment is best for your personal needs here.
