Relinquishment of Control and the Type A Behavior Pattern

Past research suggests that Type As have a higher need for control than Type Bs, and empirical evidence documents their greater reactivity to control loss. We investigated the case of control decisions and examined the hypothesis that Type As would be less willing than Type Bs to relinquish control to another person. On an initial 20-trial reaction-time task, Type A and Type B men received feedback about their own performance and about that of a partner. The feedback indicated equal or superior performance by the partner. On a subsequent replication of the task in which only one person could work on any one trial, Type As relinquished fewer trials to their partners than did Type Bs, particularly when the partner had exhibited a superior initial performance. Attribution data indicated that Type As were less convinced of their partners' ability, thus justifying lower relinquishment. The implications of these results for job stress and management decision making are discussed.