Type A/B behavior pattern and athletic participation: attitudes and actual behavior

Journal of Sport Behavior, June, 1998 by Nathalie Koivula, Peter Hassmen

Despite the known positive effects that habitual participation in physical exercise has on both physical and psychological health (Bahrke & Morgan, 1978; Blumenthal, Williams, Needels, & Wallace, 1982; Folkins & Sime, 1981; Paffenberger, Hyde, Wing, & Hsieh, 1986), the number of individuals that regularly take part in sports and physical exercise has been reported to be low and even declining during recent years (Franklin, 1978; Gill & Overdorf, 1994; Robinson & Godbey, 1993). One of several motivational factors reported to influence exercise, and to have a profound effect on exercise adherence is the Type A behavior pattern (Pargman & Green, 1990).

An individual exhibiting the Type A behavior pattern (TABP) is characterized by a set of interrelated behaviors reflecting impatience, hard-driving, competitiveness, ambitiousness, a high need of achievement, an extreme sense of time urgency, job involvement, aggression, and hostility (Friedman & Rosenman, 1974; Matthews, 1982; Raikkonen, 1992; Rosenman, 1990). Individuals who are relatively lacking in these characteristics are labeled as Type Bs (Chesney, Black, Chadwick, & Rosenman, 1981; Lobel, 1988; Spence, Helmreich & Pred, 1987). A third and intermediate group consists of those individuals that exhibit a mixture of both Type A and Type B behavior characteristics, these individuals are often referred to as Type X (McDougall, Dembroski, & Musante, 1979).

Type A individuals differ from Type B individuals with regard to their self-concept, with Type As exhibiting a lower self-concept than Type Bs (Lobel, 1988). Possibly, this could contribute to the differences observed in their behavior pattern. Type As may to a greater extent be motivated by their feelings of dissatisfaction with themselves, as compared with Type Bs who are more comfortable with themselves and therefore being less driven and less competitive. Although many Type A persons often reach goals that can be viewed as highly successful from an objective standpoint, many are dissatisfied with their accomplishments, which then leads to feelings of unhappiness and a sense of disappointment (Matthews, Beane, Helmreich, & Lucker, 1980; Van Egeren, 1990).

Another possible explanation to their differential behavior pattern is the dissimilarity between Type As and Type Bs in regard to their sources of motivation (e.g., Lawler, Armstead, & Patton, 1991). It has been suggested that settings which support a focus on intrinsic motivations lead to feelings of competence, while reduction in task interest and increasing pressure and tension are instead a result of the support for an extrinsic motivational orientation (Deci & Ryan, 1985). Deadlines, direct competition, and normative evaluation are factors that have been found to decrease intrinsic motivation and to enhance extrinsic motivation (Amabile, DeJong, & Lepper, 1976; Deci, Betley, Kahle, Abrams, & Porac, 1981; Harackiewitcz, Abrahams, & Wageman, 1987); at the same time, these are typical situations that the Type A individual seeks out (Matthews, & Siegel, 1983; Matthews, & Volkin, 1981; Rosenman, 1990; Spence et al., 1987).

In accordance with the above, motivation to exercise would for the Type A individual be of an extrinsic nature, whereas the Type B individual would be more motivated by intrinsic factors (Franklin, 1978). This might explain why Type As were significantly more likely than Type Bs to be early drop-outs from a rehabilitative exercise program (Franklin, 1978; Oldridge, Wicks, Hanley, Sutton, & Jones, 1978). Low adherence to exercise among Type A individuals has also, however, been suggested to be due to real or perceived time conflicts associated with management roles (Shephard & Cox, 1980).

Eby and Van Gyri (1987) examined the occurrence of Type A behavior in an elite athlete student population and compared it with a normal student population. They found that the percentage of Type As was significantly higher in the athlete student population. This was not surprising, according to Eby and Van Gyn (1987), because some of the characteristics present in the Type A behavior pattern, such as the competitive and hard-driving traits, to be achievement-oriented and aggressive and to ignore physical fatigue and injury (Carver, Coleman, & Glass, 1976; Carver, Degregorio, & Gillis, 1981; Friedman & Rosenman, 1974; Hassmen, Stahl, & Borg, 1993), are also the characteristics of a successful athlete. Similar findings were reported by Robertson, Melior, Hughes, Sanderson and Reilly (1988) in their study of Type A behavior in squash players at different levels of play.

Typically, Type As show a greater interest than Type Bs in comparing their achievements with others, and also feel they must constantly prove themselves to themselves (Furnham & Linfoot, 1987). This could then support the findings of Eby and Van Gyn (1987) that among elite athletes a substantial percentage is characterized by the Type A behavior pattern, because in order to be a successful athlete the person has to set goals, and especially new, changing, and challenging goals (Locke & Latham, 1985; Martin et al., 1984; Nelson, 1978). The need for Type As to prove themselves to themselves, and the comparing of their own achievements with others, might thus be an incentive to set novel and challenging goals.