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The Type A behavior pattern includes extreme competitiveness, ambition, impatience, hostility, angry outbursts, and sense of eagerness, hurriedness, and time pressure. Several decades ago, researchers found that men who displayed the Type A behavior pattern were more than twice as likely as Type Bs to develop heart disease. Later studies, however, often failed to confirm these outcomes. Type A is actually a mix of behaviors, only one or two of which affect health. Current evidence pinpoints hostility as the “toxic” ingredient of Type A, since isolating it from global Type A consistently predicts heart disease and other health problems, even after factors that might otherwise account for these outcomes—such as smoking, alcohol consumption, overweight, and life stressors—are controlled. The risks of high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, and stroke are several times greater in adults scoring high on hostility measures than those scoring low. Expressed hostility in particular—frequent angry outbursts; rude, disagreeable behavior; critical and condescending nonverbal cues during social interaction, including glares; and expressions of contempt and disgust—predicts greater cardiovascular arousal, coronary artery plaque buildup, and heart disease. A related feature of the Type A pattern that also predicts heart disease is a socially dominant interactive style, evident in rapid, loud insistent speech and impatiently cutting off and talking over others. As people engage in these behaviors, heart rate, blood pressure, and stress hormones escalate.
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