Type A and B are two contrasting personality types. Being workaholic, serious, and aggressive are some of the prominent type A personality traits. Go through the list of traits provided by PsycholoGenie to know whether you are type A personality or not.
You must have heard about the type A and B personality theory (first published in the 1950s). Personality type can be defined as the classification of individuals on the basis of their behavior pattern. Although there have been several researches undertaken on the typology of personalities, one cannot forget the contributions of Carl Jung, whose theories gave rise to the idea of psychological types of personalities. People are classified into personality types A, B, C, and D. Here we will see more on type A personality and their peculiar characteristics.
Type A Personality
A light-hearted, but, apt description of type A personality is that these people are perfectly performing machines. Their typical personality traits are aggression and impatience. They tend to get upset over little things and cannot tolerate undone job, chaos, and loud noise. They also have a characteristic short temper, and can be, at times, blunt and rude. They are workaholics and often live a stressful life. They are self-driven and motivated towards their goals.
Personality Traits Checklist
If you observe the following traits, there are chances that you belong to the type A personality. For a detailed information about these traits, you can go through the column mentioned below.
» Ambitious
» Aggressive
» Competitive
» Direct
» Efficient
» Hostile
» Impatient
» Perfectionist
» Persistent
» Workaholic
Traits of Type A Personality Explained in Detail
People belonging to personality type A can be easily identified. Their nature is exactly opposite to people with personality type B. Following are the characteristics of these people with respect to timeliness, relationships, finances, emotions, etc.
Timeliness
Punctuality is extremely important to these people; they hate lateness. There are some extreme types, who utterly abhor people who work or even speak slowly. They follow a rigid schedule, set their own deadlines in all their activities, and strive hard to meet them. For them being late for any work or appointment is a crime. They become restless and irritable if they have to wait in any sort of line or are held up in chaos.
Finances
Money is another important issue for them as it represents security and power. They tend to base their relationships on money, spend money to show affection, and always think in monetary terms. Everything related to money, cost, finances, gains, saving, spending, etc., is important to type A people.
Relationships
Partners of type A personality usually have to accept the fact that work is more important to them than relationships. These people have really high standards, and hence, have a difficulty in finding a partner who can match their high standards. Their whims and superiority complex usually isolates them from the society. Moreover, they find hard to relax, are introverts, and more often than not, enjoy working alone rather than socializing.
Emotions
These people are incapable of expressing emotions. According to them, showing emotions of any kind is a sign of weakness. They also think that emotionality is an obstacle that will prevent them from reaching the goal. They are extremely rigid and never show inclination towards change.
Physical Features
Sometimes, you can make out a type A person from his physical features. Physical characteristics usually include having a serious or grave expression, tight lips, clenched jaw, agitated look, etc. They usually have dark circles under their eyes due to over stress and lack of sleep.
Sometimes, you can make out a type A person from his physical features. Physical characteristics usually include having a serious or grave expression, tight lips, clenched jaw, agitated look, etc. They usually have dark circles under their eyes due to over stress and lack of sleep.
Type A Personality and Heart Diseases
As type A personalities are workaholics, they tend to be successful in life. They can perform well in any career that requires competitiveness. But, they are highly prone to heart diseases, because of being constantly under stress. They are self-critical, and have high standards for themselves and others. They constantly experience excess anxiety & stress. Similarly, it is not in their nature to relax or work at a leisurely pace, and hence, they are believed to be at high risk of hypertension.
* Note that the traits mentioned here are merely for illustrative purposes. Not all people belonging to this personality type may show all the aforementioned traits.
What You Can Do
If you have been identified as type A personality, you can follow the following methods to prevent the aforementioned health effects.
» Try to relax and slow down a bit. Extreme competitiveness can be avoided as it always leads to stress.
» Give equal time to your family, relationships, and social life. Working and thinking about work constantly will never help you relax.
» Try to delegate less important work to someone. You need not do everything on your own and get stressed about being overworked.
» Try easy relaxation techniques like pursuing a hobby, watching a funny movie, spending time with people you love, going on a vacation, etc.
» Lastly, share your thoughts and views with your trusted ones. This is one of the most effective ways to get over anxiety.
You can undertake a personality test to find out whether you belong to this personality type or not. Lastly, you should note that being type A personality is not abnormal, but, you need to keep a check on the stress level to avoid further health problems. Take care!