1,250 word count and there is a total of 4 questions each (not including in-text citation and references as the word count), a minimum of three scholarly sources are required in APA format. For the three scholarly sources, one from the textbook that’s posted below and the other two from an outside source (library articles-EBSCO). Let’s be sure to write it in own work 100% and give appropriately when using someone’s else work. Complete: a minimum of 1,250 words (total assignment) and three scholarly sources. Reference for Textbook Manning, G., Curtis, K., McMillen, S., and Attenweiler, B. (2011). Stress living & working in a changing world. Nashville, TN: Savant Learning Systems, Inc. In text citation: (Curtis, et al., 2011). Personality and Stress While some of your questions in the COMPLETE section are opinion based, many require research and facts to support your answers. In those questions, please utilize APA references and citations. Often opinion questions can be supported by research. APA references and citations should be used to support that as well. 1 Discuss the personality characteristics that make up both the Type A and Type B personalities. 2 Complete the “Stress Barometer” – Type A, Type B Behavior Test. Briefly discuss your findings. (Page 6 of Unit 2) 3 List and briefly discuss three of the fifteen pieces of “Wisdom of The Ages”, in Chapter 4, that are relevant in your personal or professional life. 4 Read the poem “Slow Dance” on page 27 of Unit 2. Provide a brief interpretation of that poem. Does it apply to you and your life? How so? 5 Discuss what a “Hardy Personality” is. Do you currently embody the characteristics of a Hardy Personality? If not, what steps should you take?
2620_uni_2.pdf
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Part Two
PersonalityR and Stress
I
C
A
R
3. Personality
D Plays a Part
,
4. Wisdom of the Ages
A
5. Characteristics of
D a Hardy Personality
R
I
It is not the delicate, neurotic person who is prone to angina, but the robust, the vigorous in
mind and body, the keen and ambitious man, E
whose engine is always at “full speed ahead,” the
well set man of from forty-five to fifty-five years
N of age, with military bearing, iron gray hair,
and florid complexion.—William Osler
N
E
In Part Two you will learn:
2 traits, and behavior patterns can make you sus the ways that living habits, personality
ceptible to stress;
4
coping techniques or wisdom of the ages
7 for dealing with stress;
9
the characteristics of a hardy personality.
What is the “take away” point?
T
S
Use wisdom of the ages and the characteristics of a hardy personality for managing stress.
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Part Two: Personality and Stress / Chapter Three: Personality Plays a Part
Chapter Three
Personality Plays a Part
The stress-prone person
Harvard University Professor Douglas Powell tells a story about two sons of an alcoholic. One
becomes a drunk, the other a teetotaler. WhenR
asked to explain themselves, each gave the same
answer: “With a father like that, what can you
I expect?” The moral of the story is that it1 is not
the problems we have in our lives, but how we manage them that makes the difference.
C
An important factor in the stress equation is A
the role of personality. Some people are able to
handle tremendous amounts of pressure, conflict, and frustration and reduce this down to size,
R
while others actually create stress and suffer negative
consequences.2
D
In the nineteenth century, William Osler wrote, “I believe that the high pressure at which men
, maximum capacity, are responsible for arterial
live, and the habit of working the machine to its
degeneration.” He described one of his patients as follows:
A work, devoted to his pleasures, pasLiving an intense life, absorbed in his
D energy of the patient is taxed to the
sionately devoted to his home, the nervous
uttermost, and his system is subjectedRto that stress and strain which seems to
be a basic factor in so many cases of angina pectoris.3
I
This general description is an old version of the
Emodern concept of the stressprone person. Note
that it makes direct connections between mind and body, and between lifestyle and health.
N
As early as the seventeenth century, physician
NWilliam Harvey (1578–1657) described the relationship between mind and body when he wrote:
E
Every affection of the mind that is attended with either pain or pleasure, hope
or fear, is the cause of an agitation whose influence extends to the heart.4
2
Research over the past forty years has
4 extended our understanding of stress
and health. One of the outcomes of this research has been to demonstrate sci7
entifically that living habits, personality traits, and behavioral patterns can
9 to show that stress does not generally
influence the body. Another has been
occur in isolation and is often tied T
to social relationships. Part Two of this
book examines the difference between the stress-prone and the stress-resistant
S
personalities and provides effective coping techniques or wisdom of the ages
for managing stress.
Behavior patterns
People react differently to stress. One person may fly into a rage after being cut off by a motorist, while another simply shrugs it off. Consequently, a key issue about stress is not how much
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Part Two: Personality and Stress / Chapter Three: Personality Plays a Part
of it there is, but how well it is handled. Are you the type of person who takes a small amount
of stress and makes it into a mountain? Or are you the type who can handle many little hassles
and major life changes while keeping things in perspective?
Research shows that personality plays an important part in determining a person’s susceptibility to stress and stress-related problems. Some people are “hardgoing” and live their lives
in ways that increase physical and emotional wear and tear. Others are easygoing in their approach to life and its problems. Whether a person is a “turtle” or a “racehorse” by temperament,
certain personality traits and living habits, formed largely through the influence of culture,
correlate positively and significantly with heart disease. That these traits and habits can and
should be modified is the central point of Type A Behavior and Your Heart by Meyer Friedman
R
and Ray Rosenman.
I
Friedman and Rosenman, two cardiologists in private practice in San Francisco during the
C
1950s, became interested in the connection between
personality types and heart disease almost
by accident. Needing the chairs in their waiting
A room reupholstered, they scheduled the work
to be done. As the upholsterer departed, he asked
R the doctors what line of work they were in.
They answered that they were heart specialists. He said, “I was just wondering, because it is so
D seats are worn out”—patients had been sitting
strange that only the front edges of your chair
,
on the edges of their chairs.
The doctors were initially puzzled by this, but after reflecting on the many diagnostic sessions
A patients’ families, they thought they underthey had conducted with their patients and their
stood the reason. Time after time, they couldD
remember having a conversation something like
this: “Doctor, I know your tests tell you this, and your instruments tell you that, but if you want
R every case, the family would go on to describe
to know my Jim’s problem, it is . . . ” In almost
an almost identical constellation of behaviorsIand personality characteristics that they believed
had caused the heart disease.5
E
N
Basing their conclusions on the Western Collaborative
Group Study, an epidemiological project
completed in 1964, Friedman and Rosenman N
label highstress behaviors as type A and their opposites as type B. Included in the list of type A, coronary-prone, behaviors are the following:6
E
An intense drive to advance oneself or one’s causes and to “beat the competition.”
Whatever the occupation, trade, or profession, the type A’s mental set is to be “number
2
one.” The goal may be related to work, family, or personal life, but in any case, the type
4
A person is intensely driven to succeed.
7 in interpersonal relationships. Opinionated
An adversarial and competitive manner
9
and often rigid, the type A person seemingly
likes to argue, talks “at” others instead of
“with” them, and is subject to vocal outbursts
The type A is easily irritated and seems
T
to be in a constant struggle with other people and events.
S
Continuous involvement in a variety of activities at several levels of demand. The
type A person has a history of simultaneous work on big-picture, middle-picture, and
little-picture matters, with little or no rest in between. The type A is like an octopus,
wishing to have ten arms in order to get more things accomplished. As a rule, the type
A person avoids repetitive chores and routine work.
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Part Two: Personality and Stress / Chapter Three: Personality Plays a Part
A quick pace in walking, eating, speaking, and gesturing. The type A person has
a habitual sense of time urgency. Such a person moves through the day at an intense
pace. It might be said that type A people have the “hurryup disease.” They seem to be
in mortal conflict with Father Time, constantly working against impossible deadlines
and time constraints.
Physical and mental alertness. The type A person is characteristically tense and
poised for action. Although extreme alertness may be necessary at times, constant excitement of the body—a high level of hormonal and chemical activity—without constructive physical release can be self-destructive.
Impatience in interpersonal relations.
R The type A can be extremely demanding in
human relationships (especially with people they care about). Expecting perfection
I A becomes critical and is prone to argument.
from others, who rarely match up, a type
This person often shouts and has evenCbeen known to throw things. Although this colorful personality may attract others and
A people may care for him or her, the type A’s
intolerance for the imperfections of others often harms these relationships.
R
Inability to relax. The type A is subject
D to a condition known as “Sunday neurosis,”
an inability to relax without feeling guilty. When a type A person finds him- or herself
with a day of rest, the person quickly, becomes restless, feeling that he or she is wasting time. A type A person has a strong need to be doing something useful and does not
equate free time and relaxation with being
A useful.
Dislike for waiting. The type A hatesD
waiting in lines. If he or she has to wait in a line,
such as at the store, bank, or theater, the type A becomes irritated. If forced to wait in
R
a traffic jam, a type A will typically experience increased blood pressure as he or she
I caused by the delay. It is common to see type
dwells on the lost time and productivity
A people honking the horn, leaning out
E of the window, making hand gestures, and talking to themselves.
N
This behavior contrasts with that of type
N B people, who consider that if they want to
get to their destinations, they must wait; there is no alternative. They cannot get out of
E
their cars and throw the others out of the way, so they avoid thinking about the delay.
Instead, the type B uses forced waiting time to do something constructive, which might
even involve relaxation.
2
In summary, type A people tend to be success4oriented, driven by internal forces to accomplish
more and more in less and less time. When this
7 urge is out of control, they become perpetually
active until exhaustion occurs. Often, type A’s have poor human relationships because they
9
seem to have little or no time or patience for people,
or their aggressive behavior upsets others.
T from the intense state at which they operate;
Also, type A’s may have trouble winding down
muscle tension, aches and pains, and insomnia
S are common. Finally, type A’s rarely pause to
enjoy the moment, as they are typically in a hurry; their mental focus is usually on the next task,
the next mountain to climb.
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Part Two: Personality and Stress / Chapter Three: Personality Plays a Part
The primary significance of Friedman and Rosenman’s work was their finding that type B personalities experience less stress and have a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease, while
type A’s experience greater stress and have a higher incidence of heart disease. Further, they
discovered that heart disease in type A people is often exhibited early in life, sometimes when
they are in their thirties and forties. Friedman and Rosenman maintain that coronary heart disease almost never occurs before seventy years of age in type B people, even if they smoke, eat
fatty foods, and don’t exercise.7
There is a common belief that heart disease is a man’s illness, partly because research efforts
have focused on men who have had heart attacks in their prime midlife earning years. The fact
is, women tend to get heart disease later than men, but it is usually more severe. According to
the American Heart Association, as of 1995 R
one in eight American women age 45 and older
have had a heart attack or stroke. Also a woman’s
I risk of dying from heart disease is one in two
in contrast to 1 in 9 of having breast cancer. Heart
C disease remains the leading killer of women
in the United States. In 2007, studies showed that American women are six times more likely
A Heart disease is no longer primarily a “man’s
to die from heart disease than from breast cancer.
disease.” 8
R
Although a causal relationship has not been D
established between personality type, stress levels, and heart disease (only a high correlation, has been documented), since 1980 the National
Institutes of Health have recognized type A behavior as a risk factor in coronary heart disease.
It is estimated that 75 percent of men have type A personality traits and that almost twice as
many men fit the type A profile as women.9 A
D
People should be aware of whether they have a type A or type B personality. Consider that at
present, heart disease is the number one causeRof death in theUnited States. Forty-five percent
I occur before the age of 65. At least 250,000
of heart attacks and 20 percent of cardiac deaths
people a year die within the first hour of attack
E and before they reach the hospital. A large percentage of these deaths occur between the ages of 35 and 50 and are classified as “premature”
N you to do everything you can to reduce your
deaths. These statistics alone should encourage
N
chances of being one of the stricken.10
E
The following is a questionnaire to help you determine your personality type.
2
4
7
9
T
S
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Part Two: Personality and Stress / Chapter Three: Personality Plays a Part
Application: the Stress Barometer —Type A, Type B Behavior Test
What am I like? The following is a list of personality traits and behavior patterns. After each trait,
check the answer that best describes you. Sometimes you will feel that you belong somewhere
between the columns. This is to be expected.
Column A
Often
Column B
Rarely
I become impatient when events move slowly.
I work overtime or bring work home.
R
I feel guilty when I relax and do nothing.
I
I find myself talking “at” people instead of “with” people.
C
I speak, eat, or move at a quick pace.
A
I can’t stand waiting in lines.
R
I do things to extremes.
D
I have a strong need for perfection.
,
I become angry easily.
I have disagreements with others.
I try to think about or do two or more thingsAat once.
I am number oriented (I like to count my accomplishments
D
and possessions).
R
I overschedule myself.
I
I take little notice of my physical surroundings.
E
People fail to meet my standards.
N
I become impatient with people.
Nthem at all.
I hurry the ends of sentences, or do not speak
E
I feel driven to accomplish my goals.
I am tense.
2
I am subject to vocal outbursts.
I am occupied primarily by my own interests4and actions.
I am quick to challenge opposing views. 7
9
Source: Based on Meyer Friedman and Ray H. Rosenman,
Type A Behavior and Your Heart (New
York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1974), 80-88; and Meyer
T Friedman and Diane Ulmer, Treating Type A
Behavior and Your Heart (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1984).
S
Scoring and interpretation
Give yourself one point for each check mark in column B in the Stress Barometer test, and
circle the total on the chart in Figure 3.1. Your score is a measure of whether you are a type
A or type B person and indicates your corresponding susceptibility to stress and stress-related
illness.
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Part Two: Personality and Stress / Chapter Three: Personality Plays a Part
Figure 3.1 The Stress Barometer
Weather
Variable
Trouble
Brewing
Stormy
Weather
1 2
3
4
5
High A
6
7 8 9
Moderate A
Scores
1 through 4
5 through 9
10 through 13
14 through 18
19 through 22
Discussion
Fair
Weather
R
I
C
A
R 13
10 11 12
D
Mixture A/B
,
Sunny
Skies
14 15 16 17 18
Moderate B
Personality Type
A
D
Moderate A
R
Mixture A/B
I
Moderate B
E
High B
N
N
E
High A
19
20
21
22
High B
Stress Forecast
Stormy Weather
Trouble Brewing
Weather Variable
Fair Weather
Sunny Skies
There are five major points to remember about the Stress Barometer test:
The purpose of the test is to increase2your awareness of the relationship between behavior patterns and health. Scores reveal levels of susceptibility for groups of people,
and these may or may not be accurate4for you as an individual because (1) there is no
certainty that all type A personalities7(scores 1 through 9) will have heart disease and
(2) there is no assurance that all type9B personalities (scores 14 through 22), will not
have heart disease. What is generally assured for type B’s is that if you do have heart
T the list of contributing factors.
disease, your personality will not be on
S
There are three basic elements of the type A personality: (1) speed/impulse, (2) competitiveness, and (3) anger/hostility.11 Of these, anger/hostility is usually the most serious problem. Acceptable outlets are often found for speed/impulse and competitiveness
in the areas of hobbies, sports, and business. Anger and hostility are not as personally
or socially acceptable. Thus, their effects are often experienced internally, resulting in
harmful physical wear and tear.12
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Part Two: Personality and Stress / Chapter Three: Personality Plays a Part
An early link between hostility and heart disease is suggested by the story of
eighteenth century English medical professor Sir John Harvey when he said,
“My life is in the hands of any fool who chooses to annoy me.” He apparently
recognized the link between his anginal chest pain and his arguments with colleagues. One evening in 1793, his prediction came true. After a heated dispute
at a hospital board meeting, Dr. Harvey stormed out, collapsed, and died.13
To show that the connection between anger and health has been noted in other cultures as well,
consider the following Chinese proverb:
The fire you kindle for your enemy often burns you more than him.14
R
Hostility comes from the Latin word hostis, which means enemy. The hostile person sees enemies everywhere: on the job, in the store, onI the road, and in society at large. Because of the
health damaging effects of hostility, the hostile
C person becomes his own worst enemy. The
hostile person becomes easily angered at relatively
minor irritations and is preoccupied with
A
the errors and inadequacies of others. Hostility rarely stands alone. It is typically intertwined
with suspiciousness and self-centeredness.15 R
D
Redford Williams of Duke University, author of The Trusting Heart and Anger Kills, states that
anger/hostility is the most harmful component, of the type A personality. He identifies the “toxic
core” of the coronary prone personality: cynical mistrust of other people’s motives, frequent
feelings of anger, and expression of hostilityA
towards others without regard for their feelings.
His prescription for reducing anger is to put yourself in the other person’s shoes, learn to laugh
at yourself, relax, practice trust, listen, act as D
if this day is your last, and practice forgiveness.16
R
I
If you become angered by some stimulation,
your hypothalamus will almost
E
instantly send signals to your sympathetic nervous system (that portion of
N conscious control), causing the secrethe nervous system not directly under
tion of large amounts of epinephrine N
and norepinephrine (otherwise known as
adrenaline and noradrenalin, or as aEgroup, as catecholamines). In addition,
The toxic effects of chronic anger are well documented.
this same anger will also induce the hypothalamus to send messages to the
pituitary gland, the master of all endocrine glands, urging it to discharge some
of its own exclusively manufactured 2hormones and also to send out chemical
signals to the adrenal, sex, and thyroid
4 glands and the pancreas as well, so that
they in turn may secrete extra amounts of their exclusively manufactured hor7 your tissues be bathed by an excess of
mones. As a consequence, not only will
9 they may also be exposed to exceedcatecholamines when you become angry,
ingly large amounts of various pituitary
T and adrenal hormones, testosterone
(or estrogen), thyroxine, and insulin. If your struggles become chronic, then a
S hormones also occurs.17
chronic excess discharge of these various
Type A and type B behaviors are determined largely by culture. Compare America
with Polynesia, or compare two groups of people with the same roots—Germany and
Austria. Note the contrast between America and Germany (type A) and Po …
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