Are You a Type B Personality?
Updated October 23, 2022
In the early 1950s, the chairs needed upholstering at a cardiologist's surgery. Upon his arrival, the upholsterer noticed that the chairs had worn down in an unusual way.
The arms had eroded more than the back and seat. This suggested that the patients could not sit in their chairs while waiting for their appointment.
The cardiologists, Meyer Freidman and RH Rosenman, initially ignored the statement.
However, five years later, they decided to research to see if one personality type was more prone to coronary disease than another.
After nine years, Freidman and Rosenman concluded that certain behavioral patterns carried a higher risk of coronary disease.
Therefore, the Type A and Type B personality profiles were created.
What Is a Type B Personality?
The Type B personality is considered the healthiest personality type as they display greater levels of life satisfaction.
They are patient, even-tempered and manage stress well.
They have many desirable skills to help them succeed in their career.
Type A is considered competitive, concerned with success and social status, and quick to anger.
They are typical workaholics.
These personality types were some of the first developed and focus on general, everyday personality traits.
What Are Type B Personality Traits?
As further studies were conducted, Type C and D personalities were added to the collective, with Type C people found to be more prone to cancer.
Throughout all the research, Type B remained the healthiest because of their outlook on life.
Here are some key traits:
Communication Style Is Assertive but Respectful and Non-Aggressive
In contrast, Type A is very domineering and may dictate or shout rather than have a constructive conversation.
Type C is an extreme conformist and will do anything to avoid conflict. They are also passive-aggressive, so they appear rude and sarcastic at times.
Type D is a pessimist and will usually express the worst-case scenario or negative emotions.
Are Calm and Relaxed
They do not worry about deadlines or being a success. Instead, they are focused on enjoying the journey rather than rushing to the destination.
Type A is all about the destination. They are ambitious, impatient and value their self-worth on their success.
Type C cannot handle stress adequately; therefore, they always appear to be stressed or on the verge of burnout.
Type B takes the time to sit back and evaluate their life, rewarding themselves on everything they have achieved so far.
Type D self-sabotages; therefore, any reflection will turn into criticism. They also tend to worry, so being calm or relaxed are feelings they will not often experience.
Exercise More
Type B has a relaxed approach to life, and they display better work-life balances.
They participate in group sports, go to the gym and socialize more than the other personality types.
Type A is organized therefore, they potentially have that time. However, their priority is to get a promotion or hit their targets or make more money.
Type C people are usually too stressed about being stressed to take the time to exercise. The extra stress hormones in their bodies are what make them more likely to get cancer.
Type D is distant, especially in social situations. They will likely tell themselves they shouldn't exercise in public because they will embarrass themselves.
Have Desirable Skill Sets
Type B are empathetic, warm, creative, self-assured, open, adaptable and patient. These are all desirable workplace skills that make them effective leaders.
Type A often lacks communication and interpersonal skills. Their personality type is also often associated with a hostile work environment.
Type C and D's inability to handle last-minute changes or express how they feel means they lack essentail self-management and personal development skills.
For a Type D, all their worrying leads to a lack of sleep. A lack of sleep leads to mistakes and poor judgment, which makes them worry more.
How Do I Know if I Am a Type B Personality?
Discovering your personality type is easy.
Officially, the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS) is used to find Type A/B persons.
It tests three areas:
- Job involvement
- Competitiveness
- Impatience
It is multiple-choice; however, it has not been updated since 1979. Therefore, it does not reflect new workplace cultures.
Those with the lowest scores are classed as Type B.
Alternatively, many websites offer their own version of the test:
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BuzzFeed has an easy and quick questionnaire.
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Open Psychometrics offers a test with 10 pairs of statements. You need to pick the statement in each pair that best describes you.
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British newspaper The Mirror created an in-depth scenario quiz in 2018 to help you decide if you are Type A, B, C or D.
As the personality traits are so distinct, you do not require premade tests or questionnaires.
There are questions and scenarios you can ask yourself.
10 Questions to Ask Yourself if You Want to Know Your Personality Type
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Do you find you need to exert control over situations, or do you have the belief that everything will work out as it should?
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Do you prefer to intuit a situation or use data-driven facts?
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Do you focus on one task at a time or try to work on all things, all at once?
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When playing a board game, do you play to win; or are you there to be with friends and have a good time?
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Do you adapt well to sudden changes in method or direction?
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Do you feel guilty if you use your spare time to relax?
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Do you move, talk and eat more rapidly; or are you happy to take your time?
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When playing sports, do you need to win to find enjoyment?
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Do you tend to procrastinate?
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Do you find joy in the journey and taking your time?
If your answers to these questions are relaxed and upbeat, then you are more likely Type B.
For example, you play games and sport for fun, and winning is not important. You do not feel guilty relaxing. You do not always need all the facts, and you believe things will turn out for the best.
How Does Understanding My Personality Type Benefit My Career?
Personality types are part of a network of theories about human behaviors and traits.
Beyond these personality types, you have the Myers-Briggs test, the Nine Enneagram Personality Test and the Hogan Personality Inventory, to name but a few.
Some tests evaluate how you react to specific situations and predict future actions.
Others take a deeper look into your motivations and how you perceive yourself to create a complete personality profile.
All this information is helpful for personal and professional development in that they allow you to identify your strengths and weaknesses.
Knowing the areas you excel in will help you find the right job.
Understanding the areas you need to improve guides your goal-setting and development.
These tests also indicate what type of learner you are, which is valuable information that will help you during your entire career.
The negatives are that while testing technology is becoming more sophisticated, it cannot say for certain how you will react in every situation.
These tests also do not take into consideration a person's willingness and ability to change.
For example, some tests assess whether you will make a good leader and how likely you are to put in the work to get there.
However, that information is based on your past experiences.
Perhaps you just decided to put in the work and make positive changes to your life.
You would not yet have the evidence to prove it; therefore, the results will work against you.
Final Thoughts
Taking personality tests and understanding yourself has many benefits for your career and the choices you make.
Taking these tests is encouraged. However, they should only be used as guidelines, not a definitive catalog of who you are, who you will be, and what you are capable of.
