Type A People May Have Lower Quality of Life

By Charnicia E. Huggins   

People with "type A" personalities, characterized by irritability, hostility and impatience, seem to also have a lower quality of life, according to the findings of a small study.

一项小型研究发现，具有A型个性者（其表现特征为易怒，敌意，急躁）其生活质量似乎就比较低。

"It appears that generally speaking ... people with type A behavior are generally less satisfied with their lives," study author Dr. Kenneth Keith of the University of San Diego in California told Reuters Health.

“看来，一般而言，具有A型行为者通常对他们的生活不怎么满意，” 加利福尼亚圣地亚哥大学的研究发起人Kenneth Keith博士对路透社健康专栏的记者说。

The findings were presented Sunday during the 83rd annual convention of the Western Psychological Association, held in Vancouver, British Columbia.

此调查结果递交于周日在加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省的温哥华举行的第83届西方心理协会年会上。

Keith and his student, Shirine Kashfian, asked 72 men and women from New York and San Diego to respond to over 40 different hypothetical situations. They were asked, for example, how they would feel if a barber cut off more hair than they wanted, if a teenager drove by their house blasting rock music from a car stereo or if they were stuck in a traffic jam.

Keith和他的学生Shirine Kashfian要求72名来自纽约和圣地亚哥的男女对40个不同的假设的情景作出反应。比如，他们被要求回答假如理发师剪掉了他们不想剪掉的头发，假如一个少年驱车从他们的屋边驶过，车内的立体声喇叭正在放送震耳的摇滚乐，假如他们遇到了堵车，在如此种种的情景下，他们将有何感觉。

Generally, people who responded most negatively to the scenarios -- who exhibited more type A personality traits -- reported having a lower quality of life than their peers, Keith and Kashfian report.

一般说来，对这些情景的反应最消极者，他就显示了更多的A型的个性特征，据报告，此类人比他们的同类的人的生活质量相对就要低些。Keith和Kashfian报告说。

"There was a fairly modest connection between type A behavior and quality of life ... and although the correlations are not large, it's interesting because they're fairly pervasive," Keith said.

“在A型行为者和生活质量之间存在着一定的关联……虽然彼此的相互关系不大，但有趣的是，它们确实彼此影响。” Keith说。

He and Kashfian found that people who reported the highest levels of anger, cynicism, and hostility, in particular, in their response to the hypothetical scenarios also perceived their quality of life as much lower than their peers.

他和Kashfian发现，那些报告自己特别对那些假设情景的反应中具有最高程度的愤怒、讥嘲以及敌意，也察觉到自己的生活质量比他们的同类人要低得多。

"In other words, the more hostility somebody indicated on the hostility questionnaires the lower their quality of life," Keith said.

“换言之，那些对测试敌意的问卷上的情景显示出的敌意越多，那么，他们的生活质量也就越低。” Keith说。

The study participants' quality of life was rated according to their responses to a questionnaire that measured their self-reported satisfaction; competence and productivity; personal empowerment and independence; and social belonging and community integration.

这项研究的参与者的生活质量的排定的根据是他们对问卷所作的反应。问卷测量了他们自报的满意程度、能力、生产力、个人权力和独立性、社会亲密可靠的关系、以及与公众的融合性。

Despite the findings, the researchers note that they did not prove that the individual's type A behavior was responsible for a reduction in quality of life. They did not study whether type A behavior results in a reduced quality of life or vice versa.

尽管有以上的发现，但是研究人员仍然指出，他们并没有证明个人的A型行为对其生活质量的影响应该负责。他们没有研究A型行为是否导致了生活质量的下降，或是相反。

"It's also conceivable that something else makes people hostile and reduces their quality of life," Keith said.

“也可以想见，别的东西使人们产生敌意，并影响了他们的生活质量。” Keith说。

Various researchers have suggested that type A behavior can be changed, Keith and Kashfian write in a statement, "and the possibility exists that such change might have implications for quality of life."

不同的研究人员已经指出，A型行为可以改变。Keith和Kashfian在一篇陈述中写道，“这样的改变可能对生活质量存在影响的可能性是存在的。”

It may not be straightforward to change type A behavior, but it is "doable," Keith said. If the type A personality is thought of in terms of its behavioral characteristics rather than something internal, behavior modification and health management techniques can change that behavior in much the same way as a person changes their smoking behavior, the researcher explained.  

要想改变A型的行为并非易事，但是，那又是“可做的”Keith说。假如A型个性被认为是行为的特征，而非心理的表现，那么，行为修正，健康管理技术就能够改变那种行为，就像一个人能够改变吸烟行为那样。研究人员解释道。