Coping with competing demands: interruption and the Type A pattern
Article Abstract:
Interruption and Type A behavior as causes of overload in police radio dispatchers were examined in this observational study. All of the dispatchers (N = 72) were observed throughout one work shift, and about one half of the sample were observed for two additional shifts. For each work activity, observers recorded whether it was finished before the next activity was begun (sequential processing), left unfinished so that the dispatcher could attend fully to a new demand (preemption), or processed but ultimately left unfinished while the dispatcher simultaneously attended to one or more new demands (simultaneity). Analysis revealed that subjects who more often had their activities preempted or who handled demands simultaneously appraised their work as more overloading and took more coping actions. The effect of objective work volume on appraisal was indirect, mediated by interruption. Regardless of the level of interruption, Type A subjects proved to have lower thresholds for appraising demands as overloading and taking coping actions than did Type B subjects. These findings implicate interruption as a critical factor in job stress among human service professionals and also demonstrate the importance of measuring objective work demands in studies of this phenomenon. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
Publication Name: Journal of Applied Psychology
Subject: Social sciences
ISSN: 0021-9010
Year: 1988
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Examining the relationships among self-report measures of the type A behavior pattern: the effects of dimensionality, measurement error, and differences in underlying constructs
Article Abstract:
The most widely use self-report measures of the Type A behavior pattern (TABP) are the Bortner scale, the Framingham scale, and the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS). Though high scores on each of these measures have been linked to the development of coronary heart disease, their intercorrelations are rather low, suggesting that they may reflect different aspects of TABP. This study indicates that the low correlations among the Bortner scale, Framingham scale, and the JAS are due not only to differences in underlying constructs but also to measurement error and multidimensionality. These results also identify several psychometric problems, which raise serious questions regarding the use of these measures in TABP research. Suggestions for the development of new measures of TABP are offered. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
Publication Name: Journal of Applied Psychology
Subject: Social sciences
ISSN: 0021-9010
Year: 1990
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Role ambiguity, Type A behavior, and job satisfaction: moderating effects on cardiovascular and biochemical responses associated with coronary risk
Article Abstract:
A study compared Type A and Type B managers to determine if job satisfaction could moderate the stress of business situations and have a positive effect on coronary risk indicators. The research found that intrinsic job satisfaction does help moderate stress in Type A individuals, while extrinsic job satisfaction has little impact. Type B individuals failed to react to the test situation stressfully, leading the researchers to consider the possibility that Type A and B individuals have different cardiovascular responses to business ambiguity.
Publication Name: Journal of Applied Psychology
Subject: Social sciences
ISSN: 0021-9010
Year: 1986
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