1 STRESS 4: Stress and Personality By M. Cardwell, amended by S. McGinnes

The specification  Stress as a bodily response  The body’s response to stress  Stress-related illness and the immune system  Stress in everyday life  Life changes and daily hassles  Workplace stress  Personality factors  Psychological and biological methods of stress management 2

Outline of Today’s Session  Friedman and Rosenman (1959) Western Collaborative Project  Type A/B personalities  Hardy personality (Kobasa and Maddi) 3

Friedman and Rosenman (1959)  Western Collaborative Project:  Tested theory that personality affects cardiovascular health  3200 Californian men assessed by questionnaire over 8.5 year period  Examples of questions:  Do you feel guilty if you use spare time to relax?  Do you need to win in order to derive enjoyment from games and sports?  Do you generally move, walk and eat rapidly?  Do you often try to do more than one thing at a time? 4

Results  Two personality types identified:  Type A: competitive, hostile, achievement-oriented, impatient.  Type B: patient, relaxed, easy-going.  Deaths from coronary heart disease (CHD)  After 8½ years, twice as many Type As (12%) had died  22 years later 15% had died, but not especially Type A  Theory: being type A increases vulnerability to stress or type A people experience more stress 5

But  Myrtek (2001) meta-analysis showed that hostility rather than Type A is the key component.  Critique of Friedman and Rosenman’s research?

Stress and personality 7 Kobasa and Maddi (1977) THE HARDY PERSONALITY See themselves in control. Have a strong sense of commitment. See problems as challenges.  Stress management techniques emphasise the role of control.  Characteristics may just be negative affectivity.

Kobasa & Maddi 1977  Aim  To see if personality had an impact of stress-related illness  Method  Clients trained to identify signs of stress e.g. muscle tension, increased heart rate, anxiety  Used CBT methods to control stressors  Findings  Subjects who responded well to the training were more able to cope  Weakness  Only male, white-collar workers 8

Question Mark is very competitive and he hates losing any game he plays. At work, he is often impatient and likes working to tight deadlines. He can become quite hostile when challenged. a. What personality type is Mark likely to have? (1 mark) b. Using your knowledge of how personality factors can affect the body’s response to stress, explain how Mark might respond to the effects of stress. (4 marks)