Type A Behaviour, Attention, and the Report of Subjective Arousal

Abstract

Previous research has indicated a tendency among type A individuals to report less subjective arousal than type B individuals. Differences in attentional style between type A and type B individuals have been suggested to account for this tendency. The present paper describes a study which employed adult male subjects to examine this notion. The results of this study replicated previous findings of symptom underreport by type A subjects, but findings pertaining to the role of attention in this phenomenon were ambiguous. These data are discussed in the light of previous studies.