Personality underlying motivation for type A behavior in late adolescents.

The personality profiles of Type A college males and females, carefully selected as especially vulnerable to stress, were compared with peer controls. The purpose of these comparisons was to determine whether some motivational goals of their excessive competitive striving might be identified by underlying personality traits distinguishing the Type As, whereas other goals might be eliminated. The results indicated that Type As of both sexes were more emotionally dependent and that their competitiveness could be an effort to elicit approval from others. At the same time, higher aggression in male and female Type As implied that the negative impact upon others of winning over them also was a goal of competition. No evidence for need achievement, mastery, or task proficiency as competitive motives was found. Implications of these findings and other significant results were discussed.