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The social desirability of the Type A behaviour pattern

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Adrian Furnham*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University College London
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Adrian Furnham, Department of Psychology, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London WC1E 6BT.

Synopsis

Nearly one hundred subjects completed two Type A behaviour questionnaires twice. First, they were asked to complete them honestly, reporting accurately on their behaviour patterns. Half of the subjects were then asked to fake good, presenting themselves in a positive light, and half to fake bad, presenting themselves in a negative light. There was only a marginal difference on one questionnaire's total score, with fake good subjects having lower Type A (i.e. higher Type B scores) yet nearly every individual question revealed large significant differences. The subjects' own A/B classification did not effect the way in which they faked the questionnaires. The results are discussed in terms of the literature on faking, lay concepts of psychological phenomena and the multidimensionality of the Type A concept.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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