TYPE A BEHAVIOUR
Type A behaviour pattern is typified by a competitive drive, aggression, chronic
impatience and a sense of time urgency (Rosenman et al., 1976). This type of behav -
iour is contrasted with the opposite cluster of characteristics, type B behaviour
pattern, which leads to a more relaxed, laid-back approach to life. The concept of type
A behaviour originated from the work of two cardiologists, Meyer Friedman and
Ray Rosenman, who realized that their patients’ disease was not fully explained by
conventional risk factors such as dietary cholesterol and smoking. For years they failed
to look beyond the physical symptoms and to consider the signs of stress in their
120 COPING RESOURCES
FIGURE 6.1We can all show different ‘faces’ to the world. Personality traits tap
consistencies in how we respond and behave. Such consistencies have
been found to be important to the maintenance of health and the
development of illness.
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