DIFFERENTIAL REACTIVITY OF TYPE A AND B INDIVIDUALS TO CONGRUENT AND INCONGRUENT ENVIRONMENTS.
Item
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Title
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DIFFERENTIAL REACTIVITY OF TYPE A AND B INDIVIDUALS TO CONGRUENT AND INCONGRUENT ENVIRONMENTS.
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Identifier
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AAI8203329
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identifier
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8203329
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Creator
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SNOW, BARRY RICHARD.
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Contributor
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David C. Glass
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Date
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1981
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Social
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Abstract
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Increased attention has been given in recent years to the role of situational variables in the causation of individual behavior. An attempt was made to utilize this focus upon the social environment to help clarify the psychological mechanisms responsible for the cardiovascular responses characteristic of Type A coronary prone individuals.;Following the conception of French and his associates, which emphasizes the importance of person-environment fit in determining individual health, interview classified A's and B's who differed in their interview expressed preference for fast paced activity, were exposed to environments which were either congruent or incongruent with this preference. Congruity of environment was manipulated by varying the speed at which task performance deadlines were presented (e.g., Very Fast, Fast, Slow). Psychological distress as well as cardiovascular reactivity along a number of relevant physiological channels, were measured under the three different task deadline conditions.;It was found that lack of fit potentiated A/B differences in cardiovascular response so that those individuals in environments which were incongruent with their own propensities for action (e.g., Type A's in Slow paced environments; Type B's in Fast paced environments) exhibited larger blood pressure and heart rate increases than their counterparts in congruent environments (e.g., Type A's in Fast environments; Type B's in Slow environments). Type A and B subjects were equally reactive in Very Fast environmental settings. A similar pattern of results was obtained for the measure of psychological distress, except that Type A's reported more distress in the Very Fast environment than did Type B's. No differences in actual performance or in perceptions of environmental demands and personal performance levels were observed.;The present research is interpreted as providing support for a theoretical model which uses the person-environment fit notion to specify the type of situations in which Type A's and B's will show differential reactivity. Based upon these findings, a number of different approaches to explaining the interaction of person and situational factors which underlie the long-term development of CHD are considered. Consideration is given to the implications of this research for clarifying the basic nature of the Type A construct.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
