Dominance: Another Facet of Type A: Another Facet of Type A

Aggression, but not dominance, is typically used as a criterion for the assessment of Type A behavior. This study proposed and demonstrated that nonaggressive dominance, defined as interpersonal resistance or persistence in efforts to control a competitive situation, is associated with Type A behavior for both males and females. Forty males and 35 females typed with the Jenkins Activity Survey participated in a revised version of the classic Deutsch and Krauss (1960) competition paradigm. Both A males and females were more dominant than their respective Type B counterparts. Type A males were not different from Type A females in persistence, nor were Type B males different from Type B females. Female Type A's were more resistant to their competitor's efforts at controlling the situation than were their Type B counterparts. Male Type A's did not differ from their Type B counterparts in resistance. The implications of these results in further elucidating the mechanisms underlying the relationship between Type A and pathophysiologic health hazards are discussed. Copyright © 1990, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved