Type A vs Type B Personalities in the Workplace

Introduction: Personality Types at Work

Imagine this scenario. It is a critical moment during a business deal. The entire management team of one company reconvenes for lunch in an isolated conference room to discuss what transpired with representatives from the other company over the course of the morning. One individual slams the door angrily behind him. With numerous expletives, he sits down complaining about the behavior and unfair tactics of the other negotiators. Another individual attempts to calm the raging man down. He waves off the gesture with an angry shrug, refusing to be calmed and continuing to shout.

This scenario illustrates the differences between the classic Type A and Type B personality types. Persons with the classic Type A personality, originally defined and classified by Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman in 1959, are said to possess three fundamental characteristics that contrast with those of Type B personalities (Friedman and Rosenman, cited in Noakes 1986, 847). Type A personalities are said to be highly competitive and ambitious, to speak rapidly and interrupt others frequently, and to be seized by anger and hostility "with uncommon frequency" (Friedman and Rosenman, cited in Noakes 1986, 847). Colloquially, a Type A person has come to be understood as someone who is always on the go — a prime candidate for an emotional meltdown at work and, perhaps, destined for a heart attack before the age of forty.

Defining Type A and Type B Personalities

In contrast, the Type B individual in the scenario described above — the one attempting to calm his fellow negotiator — exhibits the characteristics of a more easygoing, laid-back individual with a higher tolerance for frustration and interpersonal differences. Type B individuals are said to be more content, less domineering, and placid in nature.

Given these psychological stereotypes, a manager might instinctively prefer an office populated entirely by Type B rather than Type A workers, for the sake of everyone's health and the health of the professional environment. However, although this might be the typical manager's gut reaction, he or she would be wise to think twice before acting on it too hastily. After all, a certain degree of ambition and urgency is necessary to the modern workplace — to motivate individuals and get things done.

The Two Subtypes of Type A: Hostile and Controlled

A more nuanced breakdown of Type A characteristics has been proposed that does somewhat greater justice to high-intensity, high-achieving personalities, whose drive may be a necessary fuel in demanding professional environments such as newsrooms, advertising agencies, and banks. It has been suggested that there are potentially "two subsets" of the Type A person. The first is the Type A hostile — the angry, overly impatient workaholic described above. The second, however, might be called the "Type A controlled" (Cimons, cited in Noakes 1986, 847). The Type A controlled individual is motivated "by excitement and reward, by the challenge of what he is doing. He's like a kid in a candy store. When he wants more, it's because he loves what he is doing" (Cimons 1988, p. 46, cited in Noakes 1986, 847).

The Type A controlled person may make an excellent leader. Although brash and outgoing, he or she is filled with enthusiasm for work and seems to derive a genuine endorphin "high" from the excitement of working hard and guiding others in a pursuit this individual genuinely enjoys. Unlike the hostile Type A, the controlled Type A has learned to channel his or her energy productively — toward a greater goal and for the benefit of the workplace as a whole, rather than in pursuit of selfish ambition alone. This individual may even enjoy sports during scarce leisure hours, another productive outlet for an abundance of energy (Friedman and Rosenman, cited in Noakes 1986, 847).

The Type A controlled individual must be clearly contrasted with the Type A hostile individual. The latter represents the classic Type A personality described in the opening scenario. This hostile type is characterized by "a mistrust of others, cynicism," and other toxic qualities that function as liabilities rather than assets in the workplace — and as potential risks to the individual's own health (Cimons, cited in Noakes 1986, 847). The hostile type "exhibits an absence of trust in the basic goodness of others, believing them to be mean, selfish, and undependable" (Cimons, cited in Noakes 1986, 847). This personality type will only sow dissension in the workplace rather than create harmony, as a Type B personality might, or channel energy productively, as a controlled Type A might.

Works Cited

Noakes, Timothy. (1986). The Lore of Running. Champaign, IL: Oxford University Press.

Kroeger, Otto, and Janet M. Thuesen. (2002). TypeTalk at Work: How the 16 Personalities Determine Your Success on the Job. New York: Dell Publishing, Inc.

Zuckerman, Edward L. The Clinician's Thesaurus Three: The Guidebook for Wording Psychological Reports and Other Evaluations. Third Edition, Revised. Accessed March 22, 2004.