Effects of a competitive task on cardiovascular responses and State-Anxiety in Type A persons

The purpose of the present research is to assess the effects upon cardiovascular reactivity and state-anxiety of competition in Type A and Type B subjects. Seventy-two male students were classifiend as Type A or Type B based on the score of the student version of the Jenkins Activity Survey. Each group performed either a competitive or non-compertitive Reaction Time task with the opportunity to avoid electric shock if they did well. During all trials, heart rate, blood pressure, and pulse wave transit time were measured. The results indicated that the presence of competitive opponent caused no significatnt differences in the cardiovascular responses of Type Bs. In Type As, by contrast, competition elicited greater changes in systolic blood pressure, heart rate, and pulse wave transit time during the Reaction Time task. Type A behavior pattern appears selectively predisposed to enhanced reaction to competitive interaction. The extreme cardiovascular responses to competitive situations in Type A individuals appear to be an important element in the relationship between coronary theart disease and Type A behavior pattern. As for a result of STAI, though state-anxiety was reduced remarkably in a competition condition, the difference between Type A-Bs was not recognized.