Type A behavior: Contextual effects within a Southern black community

Abstract

The relationships among Type A behavior (assessed by the Framingham Type A scale), reported physical symptoms, and blood pressure were examined in a study of an African-American community in the rural southern U.S.A. The study was designed to determine: (a) if the cultural context of a black community altered the definition of Type A behavior; and (b) if the effects of Type A behavior were modified by this cultural context, as well as by socioeconomic and social structural variables. It was found that the patterning of traits characteristic of Type A behavior was different in the black (vs published studies of the majority) community, and that subscales of Type A behavior in turn had different effects on health variables than those observed in published studies. The health effects of these subscales were also moderated by socioeconomic and social structural variables. Future research should examine more closely how the definition of the Type A behavior pattern, and its effects, are modified by social and cultural context.