Personality & Pulse Rate Correlation Study

This assignment explores the potential relationship between personality types (Type A and Type B) and pulse rates. Participants complete a dot-to-dot puzzle to measure their speed, while also filling out a questionnaire based on the Friedman and Rosenman model to assess their personality type. The study analyzes the correlation between personality scores and pulse rates during the puzzle task, providing insights into potential physiological differences associated with personality.

Running head: ROLE OF PERSONALITY TYPES ON STRESS RESPONSE
ROLE OF PERSONALITY TYPES ON STRESS RESPONSE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ROLE OF PERSONALITY TYPES ON STRESS RESPONSE
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Aim..................................................................................................................................................5
Hypothesis.......................................................................................................................................5
Alternative Hypothesis (H1).........................................................................................................5
Null Hypothesis (H0)....................................................................................................................5
Method.............................................................................................................................................5
Design..........................................................................................................................................5
Participants..................................................................................................................................6
Apparatus.....................................................................................................................................6
Procedure.....................................................................................................................................8
Stage 1.........................................................................................................................................8
Stage 2.........................................................................................................................................8
Results..............................................................................................................................................8
Data obtained from the questionnaire..........................................................................................8
Data obtained after measurement of pulse rates..........................................................................9
Inferential Statistics/Treatment of Results.....................................................................................11
Discussion......................................................................................................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
Reference List................................................................................................................................13

2ROLE OF PERSONALITY TYPES ON STRESS RESPONSE
Appendix........................................................................................................................................15
Appendix 1.................................................................................................................................15
Appendix 2.................................................................................................................................16

3ROLE OF PERSONALITY TYPES ON STRESS RESPONSE
Abstract
This research report describes the effect of personality types on stress responses. Two types of
individuals were selected based on the personality scores obtained after using the Friedman and
Rosenman questionnaire tool. The two personality types were A and B. Both the types were
subjected to a mild stressor like dot-to-dot puzzle and their pulse rates were monitored before,
during and after the puzzle solving. The Type A personalities were found to have a higher pulse
rate than the Type B personalities. Thus, it can be concluded that Type A personalities are highly
anxious and become easily affected by stress than type B individuals.

4ROLE OF PERSONALITY TYPES ON STRESS RESPONSE
Introduction
Individuals differ in the ways they show response to a particular stress or problem. Some
individuals have an inborn temperament that predisposes them to high or low tolerance levels to
a particular stress (Griffin, Guillette and Healy 2015). The personality of an individual
determines whether that individual will get affected by a stress. It depends on how the individual
perceives the particular situation or events and provides the necessary responses based on their
perception (Jakšić et al. 2012). Those individuals who become anxious after occurrence of an
event are more prone to show stress responses than those who remain relaxed after an event
(Cooper and Marshall 2013).
The personality types that give rise to elevated stress responses can suffer from various
stress related illnesses like heart diseases, depression, diabetes, obesity, gastrointestinal
problems, among others (Tyrer, Reed and Crawford 2015; Bhattacharya, Shen and
Sambamoorthi 2014; McGaugh 2016). There are two types of personalities. These are type A
and B. These personality types have been defined by Friedman and Rosenman. They described
the Type A personalities to always remain anxious, obsessed with status and achievements, are
impatient and workaholics. They are highly susceptible to display of anger and in turn can
develop various heart diseases. On the other hand, Type B personalities remain calm, patient and
are highly satisfied with their lives, thereby leading to a happy and disease free life (Glass, and
Carver 2013; Henry, J.P. and Stephens 2013).
This report is a practical investigation dealing with the role of the personality types on the
stress responses like pulse rates.

5ROLE OF PERSONALITY TYPES ON STRESS RESPONSE
Aim
The aim of the investigation is to determine the effect of the Type A and Type B
personalities on pulse rates, when exposed to a mild stress.
Hypothesis
Alternative Hypothesis (H1)
Among the 2 personality types A and B, Type A personalities will be significantly
affected by stress and will show higher pulse rates than Type B personalities, who will show
lower pulse rates.
Null Hypothesis (H0)
There will not be any significant differences in the pulse rates of the Type A and B
personalities when exposed to a mild stressor.
Method
Design
The design of the study will be based on an experimental research method. This research
method will help to determine the differences in the pulse rates of the Type A and B personalities
following exposure to stress. The 2 types of personalities A and B will be used in the experiment.
Physiologic responses like pulse rates will be measured in case of both the personality types A
and B. Some of the factors that affect stress responses will be controlled. These factors are
gender, age, smoking or caffeine consumption (Eysenck 2012; Richards, G. and Smith 2015).
This is because smoking and consumption of caffeine increases stress responses, younger people
are more prone to stress than the older generation, while women are more prone to stress than

6ROLE OF PERSONALITY TYPES ON STRESS RESPONSE
men are. The experimental research will be based on independent measures. The two personality
types will be segregated into groups, where Type A personalities will be present in one group
and Type B will be in another group. But, both the types will be subjected to the same levels of
stress. Both the personality types will be subjected to a dot-to-dot puzzle. The duration of the
puzzle will be 1 minute, where their pulse rates will be measured before the start of the puzzle.
Then, midway their pulse rates will be measured and after the end of the puzzle, the pulse rates
will be measured. The independent variables in the research design will be personality types,
since they will be varied, either Type A or B. The dependant variables will be the measures of
pulse rates or the baseline heart rate. In order to determine whether the method can be replicated
or not, it was given to another member of the research study group and the person was asked to
explain the method designed. The individual easily determined the method design indicating that
the method is valid and can be replicated easily.
Participants
An opportunity sampling method will be used to select the personality types A and B.
Approximately 5 type A and 5 Type B personalities can be recruited to carry out the experiment.
They will be subjected to a mental stress like a dot-to-dot puzzle and their pulse rates will be
measured. Male participants will be selected and they will be of the age range of 18-25 years.
The participants will be allocated into the two groups based on the symptoms generated as a
result of stress. The ethical challenges are to be kept in mind while allocating the individuals for
the experiments. The individuals should not feel that the workers associated with the experiment
are invading their personal space while carrying out the research. Other ethical challenges will
involve in providing the individuals with details of their stress related medical disorders.

7ROLE OF PERSONALITY TYPES ON STRESS RESPONSE
Apparatus
The Friedman and Rosenman Personality questionnaire can be used as a diagnostic tool
to allocate the individuals in the two groups (Petticrew, Lee and McKee 2012). Dot-to-dot
picture puzzles will be used to measure their stress levels. Apart from stopwatches, blood
pressure monitors will be required to measure the blood pressure and pulse rates. Pulse oximeters
can also be used to measure the pulse rates. Sphygmomanometers and stethoscopes are also used
for determining blood pressures and heart beats. Data sheets are used to record the results
obtained. The dot-to-dot puzzle that will be used is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Dot-to-dot puzzle
(Source: Www.picturedots.com, 2017)

8ROLE OF PERSONALITY TYPES ON STRESS RESPONSE
Procedure
Stage 1
The Friedman and Rosenman questionnaire tool will be used to determine whether the
individuals are Type A or B (Appendix 1). The scores obtained will be used to segregate the
individuals into Types A and B.
The personalities were differentiated based on the scores obtained after carrying out the
Friedman and Rosenman questionnaire. Those individuals who had a score of + 1 or more were
considered to be Type A personalities, while those individuals who scored negative that is – 1 or
less are considered to be Type B personalities. However, if some individuals could not be easily
identified as Type A or B, for such individuals the questions B, D and J of the questionnaire will
be used. If they scored 10 or above, they will be classified as Type A, while those who scored 6
or below will be classified as Type B.
Stage 2
The stage 2 of the procedure involves the solving of the dot-to-dot puzzle by the selected
participants. The pulse rates will be monitored in 3 stages. The first stage or pulse rate 1 (PR1)
will be monitored before the start of the puzzle. The second stage or pulse rate 2 (PR2) will be
monitored every 5 seconds during the puzzle and stage 3 or pulse rate 3 (PR3) will be monitored
after the participants have solved the puzzle.
Results
Data obtained from the questionnaire
Table 1: Total scores of participants

9ROLE OF PERSONALITY TYPES ON STRESS RESPONSE
Participant No. Total score Personality type
1 5 A
2 4 A
3 -4 B
4 -5 B
5 -2 B
6 -6 B
7 10 A
8 3 A
9 2 A
10 -3 B
The individuals were classified according their scores. However, participant number 7
was not easily identifiable as Type A or B. The participant was subjected to the questions B, D
and J of the questionnaire. The participant scored 10 and as a result was classified as Type A
(Table 1).
Data obtained after measurement of pulse rates
The pulse rates of the participants were monitored at three times and were designated as
PR1, 2 and 3 (Appendix 2). The following tables shows the pulse rate data of the participants and
the frequency distribution tables. Frequency distribution graphs are shown in Figures 2 and 3.
Table 2: Descriptive statistics showing personality type and pulse rate during the puzzle
Type A personality Type B personality
Total pulse rate (beats per 565 394

10ROLE OF PERSONALITY TYPES ON STRESS RESPONSE
minute)
Participant no. (N) 1, 2, 7, 8, 9 3, 4, 5, 6, 10
Mean 9.396 6.72
Median 9.58 6.7
Mode 10 6.7
Range 1.7 1.5
SD 4.18 0.53
Table 3: Frequency distribution table of the frequency of pulse rates of Type A and B
personalities at stressor
Interval Mid point Frequency of high
pulse rate of Type A at
stressor
Frequency of high
pulse rate of Type B at
stressor
65-70 67.5 0 0
71-76 73.5 0 2
77-82 79.5 0 2
83-88 85.5 0 0
89-94 91.5 0 1
95-100 97.5 1 0
101-106 103.5 0 0
107-112 109.5 1 0
113-118 115.5 1 0
119-124 121.5 2 0

11ROLE OF PERSONALITY TYPES ON STRESS RESPONSE
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
Frequency
Pulse Rates
Frequency of high pulse rate of Type
A at stressor
Figure 2: Histogram showing the frequency of pulse rates of Type A at stressor.
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
Frequency
Pulse Rates
Frequency of high pulse rate of Type
B at stressor
Figure 3: Histogram showing the frequency of pulse rates of Type B at stressor.

12ROLE OF PERSONALITY TYPES ON STRESS RESPONSE
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Type A Type B
Cumulative Beats per 5 second
Figure 4: Cumulative beats per 5 second of the Type A and B personalities
Inferential Statistics/Treatment of Results
A parametric test was used since the measure of central tendency was the mean.
Moreover, the information about the population was completely known and the basis of the test
statistics was distribution. The number of participants were 10 of which 5 were Type A and 5
were Type B. The level of significance was less than 0.05. It is a one tailed, directional test
because it shows the effect of personality on the pulse rates when exposed to stress. The
parametric test used was t test, which gave a result of 0.001194. The t-test helps to determine the
significance of the results and the result was found to be highly significant.

13ROLE OF PERSONALITY TYPES ON STRESS RESPONSE
Discussion
The results of the experiment revealed that the Type A personalities showed higher pulse
rates than the Type B personalities. The Type A personalities were found to be very anxious as
compared to the Type B individuals, which resulted in their increased pulse rates. The
questionnaire tool was highly useful as it helped to segregate the participants into the Type A and
Type B groups. The dot-to-dot puzzle was highly effective as it helped to determine the pulse
rates of the participants after every 5 seconds. However, apart from a dot-to-dot puzzle, a
crossword puzzle could have been used to determine the pulse rates of the individuals for a
longer time period. This would have helped to generate a lot of data on the pulse rates of the
individuals in order to make the experiment highly significant. The ethical issues had to be kept
in mind while carrying out the experiment. The individuals felt an invasion of their privacy,
when they were analyzed for their personality through the use of the questionnaire. Care should
have been taken to frame the questions properly to the individuals. Moreover, it was necessary to
inform them about the consequences of their personality types keeping in mind not to make the
individual concerned about their medical condition. Psychiatrists, general physicians and nurses
could have been engaged in order in the research or the study. After determining their personality
types and the associated consequences, the individuals could have got consulted with the
healthcare officials about the necessary intervention strategies to overcome their problems.
Conclusion
This research aimed at determining the effect of personality types on stress responses like
pulse rates. The individuals were segregated into groups based on the personality scores obtained
by sing the Friedman and Rosenman questionnaire tool and after that they were subjected to a
mild stressor. Their pulse rates were monitored and it was found that the Type A personalities

14ROLE OF PERSONALITY TYPES ON STRESS RESPONSE
had higher pulse rates than the Type B personalities. Thus, it can be concluded that personality
type A are more anxious and are affected by stress than Type B personalities.

15ROLE OF PERSONALITY TYPES ON STRESS RESPONSE
Reference List
Bhattacharya, R., Shen, C. and Sambamoorthi, U., 2014. Excess risk of chronic physical
conditions associated with depression and anxiety. BMC psychiatry, 14(1), p.10.
Cooper, C.L. and Marshall, J., 2013. Occupational sources of stress: A review of the literature
relating to coronary heart disease and mental ill health. In From Stress to Wellbeing Volume
1 (pp. 3-23). Palgrave Macmillan UK.
Eysenck, M., 2012. Smoking, personality, and stress: Psychosocial factors in the prevention of
cancer and coronary heart disease. Springer Science & Business Media.
Glass, D.C. and Carver, C.S., 2013. Environmental stress and the Type A response. Advances in
Environmental Psychology: Volume 2: Applications of Personal Control, 2, p.59.
Griffin, A.S., Guillette, L.M. and Healy, S.D., 2015. Cognition and personality: an analysis of an
emerging field. Trends in ecology & evolution, 30(4), pp.207-214.
Henry, J.P. and Stephens, P.M., 2013. Stress, health, and the social environment: A
sociobiologic approach to medicine. Springer Science & Business Media.
Jakšić, N., Brajković, L., Ivezić, E., Topić, R. and Jakovljević, M., 2012. The role of personality
traits in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Psychiatria Danubina, 24(3.), pp.256-266.
McGaugh, J.L. ed., 2016. Emotions and bodily responses: A psychophysiological approach.
Academic Press.
Petticrew, M.P., Lee, K. and McKee, M., 2012. Type A behavior pattern and coronary heart
disease: Philip Morris’s “crown jewel”. American journal of public health, 102(11), pp.2018-
2025.

16ROLE OF PERSONALITY TYPES ON STRESS RESPONSE
Richards, G. and Smith, A., 2015. Caffeine consumption and self-assessed stress, anxiety, and
depression in secondary school children. Journal of psychopharmacology, 29(12), pp.1236-1247.
Tyrer, P., Reed, G.M. and Crawford, M.J., 2015. Classification, assessment, prevalence, and
effect of personality disorder. The Lancet, 385(9969), pp.717-726.
Www.picturedots.com (2017). Tutorial • picture dots • dot to dot generator. [online]
Picturedots.com. Available at: http://www.picturedots.com/tutorial/tutorial1.php [Accessed 27
Nov. 2017].

17ROLE OF PERSONALITY TYPES ON STRESS RESPONSE
Appendix
Appendix 1
Briefing and standard instructions
The participants will be briefed about the entire procedures. They will be informed about
a dot-to-dot test that will be carried out to determine their speed in solving the puzzle. The
participants will be asked about their medical conditions like the presence of cardiovascular
diseases before carrying out the test. This is because cardiac problems can give rise to increased
pulse rates rather than personality type. If such participants are present, then they will not be
included in the experiment. They will also be given instructions about the questionnaire and will
be informed that such a questionnaire is used to determine the speed of the individuals in
performing a puzzle.
Friedman and Rosenman Questionnaire tool
A. Never late 5 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 Casual about appointments, easy
going
B. Very competitive 5 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 Not competitive
C. Good listener -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 Anticipates what others are going
to say (nods, interrupts)
D. Always rushed 5 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 Never feels rushed (even under
pressure)
E. Can wait patiently -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 Impatient when waiting
F. Goes all out 5 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 Casual
G. Takes things one at a time -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 Tries to do many things at once
H. Emphatic in speech (may
pound the desk)
5 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 Slow, deliberate talker
I. Wants a good job recognised
by others
5 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 Cares about satisfying self no
matter what others may think
J. Fast eating/ talking 5 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 Slow doing things
K. Easy going -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 Hard driving
L. Hides feelings -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 Expresses feelings
M. Many outside interests 5 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 Few outside interests”