Type A / Type B personality

A behavioural typology proposed by cardiologists Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman in the 1950s, which sorts people by their characteristic pattern of competitiveness, time-urgency, and stress response. The original Type A and Type B pair was later extended with Type C and Type D as researchers described further coping and affect styles. Our free course explains all four patterns and tells the honest story of the model's cardiology origins — including why the once-claimed link between Type A and heart disease has largely weakened.

The original A/B distinction grew out of mid-20th-century cardiology research and entered popular culture, but the claimed link to heart disease has been largely weakened by later studies, and the model is not regarded as a validated personality framework. (Friedman & Rosenman, 1950s (Type A/B); Type C and Type D added by later researchers (late 20th century))

Groups

• Type A — Competitive, time-urgent, achievement-driven, and prone to impatience and a sense of pressure (one half of the original Friedman & Rosenman pair).
• Type B — Relaxed, easy-going, and reflective, with less urgency and competitiveness than Type A (the other half of the original pair).
• Type C — Cooperative and detail-focused, tending to suppress emotions rather than express them (added to the model after the original A/B pair).
• Type D — The 'distressed' type, combining negative affectivity with social inhibition, so distressing feelings are felt strongly but held back from others (a later addition to the model).

Related topics

• Temperament & Character Inventory (Cloninger)
• Fisher Temperament (neurochemical)
• Keirsey Temperament Sorter
• The Four Temperaments (classical humours)
• Temperament type (Thomas & Chess)
• Sensitivity type (Highly Sensitive Person)
• Sensation seeking

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