Effects of personal responsibility and latitude for type a and b individuals on psychological and physiological stress responses

Abstract

Latitude has been considered a dominant factor in stress reduction. Jobs that involve high latitude, however, generally are accompanied by high responsibility, which might induce high levels of stress. Therefore, latitude in a job situation is necessary to examine the effects of responsibility and latitude together. In this study we examined the effects of personal responsibility and latitude for Type A and B individuals on psychological and physiological responses. Thirty-one Type A participants and 31 Type B participants were divided into high- and low-responsibility conditions. Personal responsibility was operated by disclosures about results of the task performed by groups of 3 participants. Participants received both latitude conditions (self-paced and externally paced task). High responsibility elicited psychological responses and increased heart rate; Type A individuals especially showed a remarkable increase of heart rate. On the other hand, latitude did not reduce strain. We concluded that personal responsibility might be one of the dominant factors of stress elicitation.