The International Journal of Human Resource

Management

ISSN: 0958-5192 (Print) 1466-4399 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rijh20

Type A behaviour at work – an empirical study of

Taiwanese managers and entrepreneurs

Amy Lai Yu Wong

To cite this article: Amy Lai Yu Wong (2005) Type A behaviour at work – an empirical study
of Taiwanese managers and entrepreneurs, The International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 16:11, 2147-2160, DOI: 10.1080/09585190500315166

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09585190500315166

Published online: 17 Feb 2007.

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 Int. J. of Human Resource Management 16:11 November 2005 2147– 2160

Type A behaviour at work – an empirical

study of Taiwanese managers and
entrepreneurs

Amy Lai Yu Wong

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Abstract Bortner’s Type A Behaviour Questionnaires were used to explore the work
behaviour of Chinese managers and entrepreneurs in Taiwan and to investigate how that
behaviour was influenced by occupation, age and gender. One hundred and seventeen
subjects participated in the study, of which 45 were also interviewed. The mean score on
the questionnaire was 74.68, the median (74) and the mode (76) within a scoring range of
0 – 140. Eighty-four subjects registered scores of 80 or less (Type B behaviour) and 33
came within the mid-range of 81 – 120. None of the subjects registered scores of 121–40
(Type A behaviour). The highest score of 113 was registered by a female bank vice-
president and the lowest (47) by a male manager working in a charitable organization and
about to retire. The results are discussed within the context of Chinese cultural traditional
and parenting practices, the unique characteristics of Taiwan’s recent history and the
subjects’ career experience.

Keywords Type A/B behaviour; Taiwanese managers and entrepreneurs; work

behaviour; Chinese culture; age; gender and occupation.

Introduction
It has become almost a commonplace to remark that we live in hectic times fraught with
intractable pressures, such as deadlines, role conflict and ambiguity, financial
responsibilities, traffic congestion, noise and air pollution, family problems and work
overload (Kreitner et al., 1999). Technological advancements make it harder for
employees to disconnect completely from the office. Managers find that the dynamics of
modern career life present us with real challenges in balancing the demands of work and
non-work obligations. Studies of the impact of these pressures have also become
common focus. Barley and Knight (1992) reported that the amount of published material
on work and stress had doubled since 1980 and this rise continues. More than two
decades ago, Rosenman and Chesney (1982) argued that the modern work environment
had stimulated competitiveness, aggression and hostility and created unique stressors not
experienced by previous generations or non-industrialized societies. Cooper (1981)
pointed out that managers are particularly vulnerable to these intensifying pressures and
Cox and Cooper (1988), in a study of 45 UK chief executives, commented on what they
referred to as their ‘frenetic’ lifestyle. A major survey undertaken by the UK Institute of
Management (1996) and involving almost 1,100 managers showed that stress is common

Amy Lai Yu Wong, Department of Management and Marketing, The Hong Kong
Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong, PRC (tel: 852 2766 4013 fax: 852 2765 0611;
e-mail: msawong@inet.polyu.edu.hk).
The International Journal of Human Resource Management
ISSN 0958-5192 print/ISSN 1466-4399 online q 2005 Taylor & Francis
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
DOI: 10.1080/09585190500315166
 2148 The International Journal of Human Resource Management
to all levels and types of manager with nearly 90 per cent of the sample reporting adverse
effects on their health, morale, work effectiveness and relationships.
Given the weighty responsibilities that managers are said typically to carry, often
coupled with relentless time pressures and equally relentless pressure to deliver, it is
reasonable to conjecture that these factors will carry significant implications for the way
managers (and entrepreneurs) go about their work. However, studies of these
implications to date have focused predominantly on the managers in the West with a few
exceptions, such as the research of Siu et al. (1999) comparing two managerial samples
from Hong Kong and Taiwan. There is a paucity of studies of Chinese managers’ work
behaviour and particularly so as regards Taiwan.
Looking back over the last 40 years, Taiwan has been gone through several stages of
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modernization and became one of the Asian Economic Tigers. The intention of the
Taiwanese government has been to make the country a regional economic power by
actively encouraging foreign direct investment, a policy that has spawned a new
managerial elite. Simultaneously, one of the Taiwan government’s central economic
policies has been to encourage the establishment of small and medium-size businesses,
the outcomes of which has been the growth of a vibrant entrepreneur class. The success
of the Taiwanese economy thus owes a great deal to its managers and entrepreneurs who
have risen to the government’s challenge through their keen work ethic, long hours and
busy lives. On the face of it at least, Taiwanese managers and entrepreneurs are strong
candidates for demonstrating the kind of behaviour denominated by Rosenman et al.
(1966) as Type A: behaviour characterized by aggression, impatience, time urgency and
restlessness.

Literature review of managerial work behaviour – Type A behaviour

During the 1960s, Friedman and Rosenman made extensive studies of patients with
coronary heart disease (CHD) (Rosenman et al., 1966). They found that these patients
behaved similarly in many ways, being extremely competitive, high achieving,
aggressive, hostile, impatient and restless. They were also characterized by explosive
speech patterns, tenseness of facial muscles and appeared to be under constant pressure
of time. Friedman and Rosenman referred to these patients as having ‘Type A’
personality types as opposed to the more relaxed ‘Type B’ individuals who were
‘completely free of all of the habits and exhibiting none of the traits of the Type A
personality’. Type Bs, in contrast to Type As, have a low risk of coronary heart disease
but Type A employees tend to be more productive than Type Bs. Kreitner et al. (1999)
refer to three studies covering students, university professors and life assurance brokers,
in each of which Type A behaviour and performance showed a significant and positive
correlation. But this high performance can bring with it negative consequences, such as
raised blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. Friedman and Rosenman contend that
Type A behaviour may not be due solely to personality attributes but rather that the
cluster of particular behaviours as manifested by Type A behaviour stems from the
interaction of specific personality characteristics with the stressors of the environmental
milieu (Rosenman, 1978). Cox and Cooper (1988) report a study of white-collar, middle
class males in Buffalo, New York, USA, in which a link between high status jobs and
Type A behaviour was indicated. The men occupied a range of work settings including
banking, healthcare, university academics and trade union officers. Type A behaviour
was found to relate to occupational status as measured by rank, level of occupational
prestige and income. It was also significantly related to rapid career achievement as
indicated by rank and income relative to age.
 Wong: Type A behaviour at work 2149
Chusmir and Hood (1986), examining the relationship between Type A behaviour and
motivation needs, argued that Type A individuals, both men and women, are
characterized by high levels of job commitment, higher needs for power and achievement
and a tendency to occupy high-ranking positions in profit-making organizations. They
are also more prone to low job dissatisfaction and are younger compared with Type B
subjects. Individuals identified as Type B are mostly characterized by reports of high job
satisfaction, are older and work more often for non-profit making organizations than
Type A subjects. Thoresen and Low (1991) and Moss et al. (1986) suggest that as age
increases, Type A behaviour decreases. Studies by Waldron et al. (1977) and by
Davidson et al. (1980) indicate that older professional women (over 60 years old)
demonstrate virtually no Type A behaviour. The reason for this may due to a sense of
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satisfaction and achievement with what life has brought. Byrne and Reinhart (1989)
suggested that as individuals achieved their life goals, Type A behaviours became less
important. Greenglass (1991), in a study of female academics at a large Canadian
university, found that those who were looking to be promoted to professor were more
likely to display Type A behaviour patterns. Type A scores also correlated positively
with role conflict: the higher the Type A, the higher the role conflict in areas involving
work and family roles. Bedeian et al. (1990) examined the work exposure of accountants
(men and women) and found that, on the whole, Type As correlated with the work
experience of males but not of females. Job satisfaction and Type A status were only
weakly related for males but highly related for the women in the study. The authors
conjecture that this gender-based difference may be related to a relative ineffectiveness
of males in managing such negative Type A characteristics as impatience, hostility and
aggressiveness.
Cohen and Reed (1985) report on a cross-cultural study comparing Japanese and
Caucasian men. The results of the study indicted that there was low prevalence of Type A
behaviour among the Japanese subjects (18.7 per cent compared with 50 per cent in the
American white-collar male sample). The authors explained these findings in cultural
terms: the Japanese culture encourages trust and cohesiveness at the expense of
individual needs for achievement; similarly, it discourages the hard-driving and
competitive behaviour that are reinforced by Western cultures. In a study comparing
managers in Hong Kong and Taiwan (men and women) for occupational stress, Siu et al.
(1999) report little difference between the two samples. However, in the Hong Kong
group, Type A behaviour was associated with strain symptoms: worse physical and
mental well-being and higher absenteeism. In the Taiwan group, Type A behaviour was
only associated with worse physical well-being. The gender difference in Type A
behaviour was not significant in Hong Kong, but in Taiwan, male managers indicated a
higher tendency towards Type A behaviour than their female counterparts.

Taiwan and its cultural specific characteristics

Taiwan’s economy before the 1960s was based primarily on low-skill labour-intensive
industry, such as assembly work and agricultural plantations. In 1949, when Chiang Kai
Shek retreated to Taiwan with his one million followers, they brought with them much
of the indigenous Chinese culture, such as Confucian values and mainland
dialects, lifestyles and traditional religious practices. However, the Japanese who
withdrew from Taiwan after their defeat in World War II left a legacy of their own
culture, and the Americans, who have aided and protected Taiwan since that time, have
also left their mark.
 2150 The International Journal of Human Resource Management
From the mid-1960s to the 1980s, Taiwan implemented a series of economic reforms
which rapidly accelerated the country’s economic growth and raised the people’s living
standards. Taipei is the capital city and has been developing fast over the past 30–40
years with a strong economic infrastructure, whilst Tainan, the second city, gradually
shifted to become an important commercial centre with a strong service base from its
mainly industrial beginnings. Taiwan has also been the recipient of considerable foreign
direct investment (FDI) during the process of its economic and social reforms and this
has been accompanied by an influx of Western business management values, ideas and
practices. In other words, both of the country’s major cities provide vibrant job markets
and opportunities for individuals to enjoy high career mobility. Over the last ten years or
so, the expansion of industries calling for high levels of technological know-how has
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raised the standard of managerial performance required in order to sustain continuing

economic development. The determination of the Taiwanese government to make
the country a regional economic power has had spectacular results. In addition to the
government’s determination to reform Taiwan’s economy, other factors such as a
strong Confucian work ethic engendering hard work and thrift (Westwood, 1992) may
also be at work.
The Asian Tiger’s economic transformation within the space of a single generation
has raised the question of whether there is something uniquely Asian at work here, and
given the common Confucian heritage of these countries, is that something essentially
bound up with Confucian values? Interestingly, Weber ([1926], 1964) took the view that
Confucianism was anything but conducive to economic success. He argued that its
emphasis on obedience to parental authority discouraged competition, risk-taking and
innovation; in other words, it was hostile to capitalism. More recently however,
commentators have focused on other aspects of Confucianism, explaining the success of
the Tiger economies and China in terms of its encouragement of hard work, savings and
investment and a long-term vision as well as its emphasis on cooperation towards
achieving shared goals. Not everyone is convinced about this explanation: for example,
the celebration of Confucianism in South-East Asia has been said to spring from the
central importance it attaches to obedience, a feature that makes it attractive to
authoritarian governments in the region (Naisbitt, 1997). Nevertheless, the debate about
the nature and extent of the influence of Confucianism goes on and, to the extent that it
has been deemed important in producing economic success, it seems a logical next step to
me to enquire into how far elements within the Confucian work ethic are reflected in the
behaviour of the managers and entrepreneurs who can reasonably claim much of the
credit for delivering that success. Does hard work coupled with a strong desire to achieve
manifest itself in the behaviour characteristics known as Type A? And are there any
culture-specific factors operating in Taiwan that might additionally lead to Type A
behaviour patterns? In other words, is Type A behaviour an inevitable outcome of
leading a managerial and entrepreneurial career in present-day Taiwan? What role do
Confucian values play in important decisions in the work and personal life of the Chinese
managers and entrepreneurs?

Taiwanese managers and entrepreneurs and Type A behaviour

Research evidence has been presented above about links between the nature of
managerial work, individual characteristics (age, gender, occupation, career aspiration
etc.) and Type A behaviour. On the basis of this evidence, I conjectured that in the
context of present-day Taiwan, with its own peculiar pressures on managers stemming
from the voracious national appetite for economic growth, a high incidence of Type A
 Wong: Type A behaviour at work 2151
behaviour should be found among the subjects taking part in this study. Given also the
links revealed by the research between Type behaviour and age, gender and occupation,
I was also interested in exploring how far these factors were significant in influencing the
work behaviour of the sample population. Byrne and Reinhart (1989), Thoresen and Low
(1991), Moss et al. (1986) have demonstrated the effects of age on work behaviour and
attitudes towards career achievement. Greenglass (1991), Siu et al. (1999), Waldron et al.
(1977), and Davidson et al. (1980) have shown how gender can have a differential impact
on work behaviour. And turning to occupation, Rosenman et al. (1966), Cox and Cooper
(1988), Chusmir and Hood (1986) and Kreitner et al. (1999) have produced findings
which suggest that the type of occupation, responsibilities and organizational ranking can
all exert influence on work behaviour. But no research to date, as far as I am aware, has
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examined the variables of age, gender and occupation as they affect Type A behaviour
solely within the Taiwanese context. This led me to frame the following research
question as the cornerstone of my research:

What are the work behaviour characteristics of the subjects (using Type A as an indicator)?
It is contended that differences in scores on Type A behaviour measures among the
subjects according to age, gender and occupation represent prima facie evidence of the
influence of these factors on the subjects’ work behaviour. Three hypotheses were
proposed relating to the research question:

H1: Given the indicators from research that Type A behaviour tends to decline with
age, younger subjects taking part in the study are more likely than older subjects
to exhibit Type A behaviour.
H2: Given the indicators from research that Type A behaviour is more associated with
males than females, male subjects are more likely to exhibit Type A behaviour
than female subjects.
H3: Since the work of managers and entrepreneurs could be considered as equally
demanding, there will be no differences between managers and entrepreneur
subjects on Type A behaviour.

Method and research techniques

Two instruments were considered for gathering data to measure the managers’ and
entrepreneurs’ behaviour. One was devised by Bortner (1969) consisting of 14 bipolar
items (e.g. never late –casual about appointments, very competitive–never competitive).
Bortner’s questionnaire was derived from studies of coronary heart disease by Rosenman
et al. (1966). The scoring range is 0–140. Scores of 121–40 are considered high
(proneness to Type A behaviour), scores of 81– 120 average, and scores of 0 –80
low (proneness to Type B behaviour) (Friedman and Rosenman, 1974). The
questionnaire has been validated and is widely used (Robinson and Heller, 1980; Cox
and Cooper, 1988; Thoresen and Low, 1991; Lam, 1996). The second instrument is the
Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS) (Jenkins et al., 1979), which consists of 52-items and is a
modification of Bortner’s instrument. JAS yields a total Type A score as well as a score
for stress assessment that comprises three factors: a speed and impatience factor, a job
involvement factor and a hard-driving and competitiveness factor. Bortner’s was the
preferred instrument for the present study as it is simple and clear as well as being easy to
administer.
In order to enrich the data collected from the Type A Behaviour Questionnaires, semi-
structured interviews were carried out with 45 subjects to gain a deeper understanding of
 2152 The International Journal of Human Resource Management
their perceptions of their careers experience. An interview is a conversational exchange
with the purpose of obtaining insight and knowledge by listening carefully and by
questioning the interviewee and, as such, it allowed the subjects to articulate and define
their thoughts and feelings and what they perceived as important to them (Miles and
Humberman, 1994; Wong and Slater, 2002). The subjects were also requested to
complete a biographic sheet indicating their age, gender, occupation and their work
history for supporting and analysing the data collected from Type A Behaviour
Questionnaires and interviews.
The Type A Behaviour Questionnaire was first published in English but, in this study,
it was translated and administered in Chinese, the established convention of back-
translation being used to verify that accuracy of meaning had not suffered through
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translation (Brislin, 1986). The semi-structured interviews were conducted in Chinese

too. The reason for using Chinese was to ensure that the concepts were fully understood
by the subjects. Although all of the interviewees were highly educated and spoke fairly
good to fluent English, it seemed wise to use Chinese as the medium for the study to
ensure that there was no ambiguity in their understanding of some of the specific English
terms used when translated into Chinese. A pilot study was carried out using a trial group
of native Chinese speakers from Taiwan to ensure the acceptability of the Chinese
version of the Type A Behaviour Questionnaires. Discussion and revision meetings were
also held on five occasions involving the same trial group to test the interview format and
especially to ensure that it included appropriate words, tones, common expressions and
phrases that are used colloquially in Taiwan. These discussions turned out to be very
useful subsequently in enhancing the effectiveness of the interviews.

Sampling and data collection

One hundred and seventeen subjects were identified from Taipei and Tainan. The reasons
for choosing these two cities are that Taipei is the capital city and has been developing
rapidly over the past 30 –40 years with a strong economic infrastructure. Tainan was
once an industrial city but its business has gradually shifted to being a commercial centre
with a strong service base. These two cities provide vibrant job markets together with
plenty of opportunities for individuals to pursue their careers and for upward mobility. In
other words, they offered good potential for finding subjects who would meet the sample
criteria. These were that they had to be ethnically Chinese, either born in Taiwan or
living there for more than 20 years; aged from 30 or above, university educated and in a
managerial and or entrepreneurial role for at least five years.
The subjects taking part in the study turned out on average to have at least eight
years working experience at the time and were either employed as managers or self-
employed as entrepreneurs. Some combined employment as managers with part-time
entrepreneurial activities. Most of them had an MBA or were studying part-time for
an MBA.
Of the 117 subjects, there were 86 males and 31 females. Of the males, 54 were
managers and 32 entrepreneurs (self-employed or in business partnerships). Of the
females, 28 were managers and three entrepreneurs.
In terms of age, there were 24 (20.5 per cent) male subjects aged from 30 –5, 19 (16.2
per cent) from 36 –40, 29 (24.8 per cent) from 41–5, 7 (6 per cent) from 46–50 and 7
(6 per cent) above 50. Of the females, 18 (15.3 per cent) subjects are aged from 30 –5,
8 (6.8 per cent) from 36 –40 and 5 (4.4 per cent) from 41–5.
Eighty-four subjects were married, 32 single and one divorced. Forty-
two male subjects’ wives were in full-time and nine in part-time employment.
 Wong: Type A behaviour at work 2153
Twenty were full-time housewives. Of the female subjects, ten were married and one
subject’s husband was in part-time employment. Thirty-five subjects did not indicate
whether their spouses were in employment or not.

Results
The mean score on the 117 validated Type A Behaviour Questionnaires was 74.68, the
median (74) and the mode (76) (Table 1). The highest score, 113 was registered by a
female subject (a bank vice-president who was married and had two children) and the
lowest (47) by a male (a manager working in a charitable organization and about to
retire). Table 2 indicates that 84 subjects registered scores of 80 or less (Type B
behaviour) and 33 came within the average range (81 –120). None of the subjects
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registered scores of 121–40 (Type A behaviour).

Fourteen subjects from the interview sample registered scores within the average
range, their mean age being 42. Subject 8 (JS), aged 44, and Subject 26 (AT), aged 38,
both said that they would like to get on further in their careers but both also admitted that
they found their current life patterns comfortable and that they had no specific plans as to
their next career move; what enthusiasm they had for ‘getting on’ tended to come and go.
JS was married with two young children and wanted to spend more time with them. Case
46 (LGL) liked the idea of advancing his career but not if it meant promotion to a job in
Taipei, which would require him to leave Tainan where he was living close to his parents.

Age and Type A

Table 3 indicates that of the five age groups into which the main sample was divided, the
age group 50 þ registers the lowest mean score (66.25) and the age group 41 –5 the
highest (78.34).

Gender and Type A

The Independent Samples Test (Table 4) indicates that the difference in mean scores
between male (73.40) and female subjects (78.23) is significant (0.08).

Occupation and Type A

The Independent Samples Test (Table 5) indicates that there was no significant
difference (0.86) in the mean scores of managers and entrepreneurs.

Table 1 Descriptive statistics – Type A behaviour

N Valid 117
Missing 0
Mean 74.68
Median 74
Mode 76
Std deviation 11.7
Percentiles 25 66.5
50 74
75 82
 2154 The International Journal of Human Resource Management

Table 2 Frequency table of Type A behaviour

Frequency Per cent Valid per cent Cumulative per cent
Valid 47 1 0.90 0.90 0.90
54 1 0.90 0.90 1.70
55 1 0.90 0.90 2.60
56 3 2.60 2.60 5.10
57 1 0.90 0.90 6.00
58 2 1.70 1.70 7.70
59 2 1.70 1.70 9.40
60 2 1.70 1.70 11.10
61 1 0.90 0.90 12.00
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62 2 1.70 1.70 13.70

63 6 5.10 5.10 18.80
64 1 0.90 0.90 19.70
65 2 1.70 1.70 21.40
66 4 3.40 3.40 24.80
67 2 1.70 1.70 26.50
68 4 3.40 3.40 29.90
69 4 3.40 3.40 33.30
70 8 6.80 6.80 40.20
71 3 2.60 2.60 42.70
72 4 3.40 3.40 46.20
73 1 0.90 0.90 47.00
74 6 5.10 5.10 52.10
75 2 1.70 1.70 53.80
76 9 7.70 7.70 61.50
77 3 2.60 2.60 64.10
78 3 2.60 2.60 66.70
79 4 3.40 3.40 70.10
80 2 1.70 1.70 71.80
81 3 2.60 2.60 74.40
82 3 2.60 2.60 76.90
83 2 1.70 1.70 78.60
84 2 1.70 1.70 80.30
85 1 0.90 0.90 81.20
86 1 0.90 0.90 82.10
88 3 2.60 2.60 84.60
89 4 3.40 3.40 88.00
90 1 0.90 0.90 88.90
91 2 1.70 1.70 90.60
92 5 4.30 4.30 94.90
93 2 1.70 1.70 96.60
95 1 0.90 0.90 97.40
98 1 0.90 0.90 98.30
108 1 0.90 0.90 99.10
113 1 0.90 0.90 100.00
Total 117 100.00 100.00
 Wong: Type A behaviour at work 2155

Table 3 Compare means Type A behaviour by age group

Age Mean N Std deviation
30– 5 73.38 42 11.27
36– 40 74.48 25 11.48
41– 5 78.34 35 11.59
46– 50 74.43 7 7
50 þ 66.25 8 14.84
Total 74.68 117 11.7
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Discussion
The low to average Type A scores suggest that, despite the pressures stemming from
rapid economic expansion in Taiwan, the subjects seemed to be well protected against its
more unwelcome manifestations. In their daily lives, they appeared to put a high value on
work behaviours, which avoided confrontation and conflict and on the maintenance of
smooth relationships. If their behaviour on the surface seemed busy or even hectic, the
subjects, though their self-reporting, did not seem to suffer serious adverse consequences
in terms of typical Type A behaviour patterns.
Turning to hypothesis 1, it was posited that the subjects’ Type A behaviour would
decline with age based on research by Davidson et al. (1980), Moss et al. (1986),
Thoresen and Low (1991) and others. This was not the case. Type A behaviour actually
increased with age, peaking within the age group 41–5 and only declining afterwards.
Perhaps the pattern here reflects increasing work responsibilities as the subjects age up to
a point where, at around 45, the subjects take stock and determine to take things more
easily. Hypothesis 1 is supported only to the extent that it applies to subjects aged 46 þ .
Hypothesis 2 was based on research evidence that suggests that Type A behaviour is
associated more with males than females. It was posited that the men taking part in the
study would score higher than the women. This also turned out not to be the case, in that
the difference in mean scores was significant, with women scoring higher than men. The
interview programme might shed useful light here. Several female subjects drew
attention to the tensions they experienced as a result of the conflicting roles of wife,
daughter, mother and career woman. There is the intriguing possibility that the Type A
Behaviour Questionnaire in this case was measuring not so much work behaviour as role
conflict. Hypothesis 2 is rejected.
Hypothesis 3 proposed that there would be no difference in the mean scores of
managers and entrepreneurs given that there is no research (as far as I am aware) to
suggest that work behaviour, as measured by Type A, differs between these two
occupational categories. Indeed, the data revealed no significant difference, so
hypothesis 3 is supported.
The research question ‘What are the work behaviour characteristics of the subjects?’
was based on the premise that, given the apparently frenetic pace of business activity in
Taiwan stemming from its recent rapid pace of economic growth, the work behaviour of
the subjects would exhibit strong evidence of the Type A pattern. This turned out not to
be the case with 72 per cent of the main sample falling into the Type B behaviour pattern
and the remainder into the average range. Whatever the factors that lie behind the
subjects’ career success, they do not appear to include the typical Type A behaviour, such
as an insatiable desire to compete, to adopt an adversarial approach to relationships or to
treat time as if it were an enemy.
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Table 4 Independent samples t-test: Type A behaviour by gender

Sex N Mean Std deviation Std error mean
TYPEA 1 Male 86 73.40 10.63 1.15
2 Female 31 78.23 13.82 2.48
Levene’s Test t-test for Equality
for Equality of of Means
Variances

F Sig. t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Std error 90% CI

difference difference
Lower Upper
TYPEA Equal variances 4.49 0.04 2 2.00 115 0.05 24.83 2.42 28.84 -0.82
assumed
Equal variances
not assumed 2 1.77 43.47 0.08 24.83 2.73 29.43 20.23

Notes
F – the F – statistic, Sig. – level of significance, t – t-statistics, df –degree of freedom, CI – confidence interval of the difference.
2156 The International Journal of Human Resource Management
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Table 5 Independent samples t-test: Type A behaviour by occupation (managers and entrepreneurs)
You are manager/ N Mean Std Std
entrepreneur deviation error
mean
TYPEA Manager 82 74.80 12.39 1.37
Entrepreneur 35 74.37 10.05 1.70
Levene’s Test for t-test for
Equality of Variances Equality of
Means

F Sig. t df Sig. Mean Std. error 90%

(2-tailed) difference difference CI
Lower Upper
TYPEA Equal variances 1.79 0.18 0.18 115 0.86 0.43 2.37 23.5 4.37
assumed
Equal variances 0.20 78.55 0.84 0.43 2.18 23.2 4.06
not assumed

Notes
F – the F – statistic, Sig. – level of significance, t – t-statistics, df –degree of freedom, CI – confidence interval of the difference.
Wong: Type A behaviour at work
2157
 2158 The International Journal of Human Resource Management
Two subjects, Subject 8 (JS), referred to above, and Subject 26 (AT) seemed to
exemplify the attitudes of the 45 subjects who were interviewed in expressing a desire to
strike a proper balance between the competing claims of work and non-work activities.
The biographic data sheet results reflect this. Ninety-four subjects (80 per cent) said that
they gained support from their families in pursuing their work and 91 subjects (78 per
cent) indicated that they tried to keep their work and home lives separate. The
participants in the interview programme frequently referred to their family and home as a
haven from the pressures and deadlines that they had to grapple with daily in the
workplace. Cohen et al. (1970) and Cohen and Reed (1985) contend that national cultural
characteristics might be an important factor affecting the incidence of Type A behaviour.
Could it therefore be that cultural characteristics are at work here? Westwood (1992) and
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Wong and Slater (2001) found in many Chinese communities that the extended Chinese
family provided a stronger bulwark against the pressures of the workplace than the
nuclear family that is more typical of Western societies. Perhaps it is also worth noting
that almost all the subjects had completed an MBA degree. That need to balance the
commitments of working and studying successfully might have filtered out the Type As.
Although the Type A data reveal differences in mean scores by age and gender (but
not by occupation), I take the view that those variances pose questions that are far less
critical than the question of why scores overall are as low as they are. Some conjecturing
on this has been made in the previous paragraph but conjecturing is no valid substitute for
systematic research. Once again, a promising avenue for further research might lie in a
comparative study in which Taiwanese managers are matched with managerial samples
from other Chinese (and non-Chinese) communities. The relationship between work
behaviour and career experience also merits a more rigorous exploration than I was able
to give within the constraints of the present study.

Limitations of the present study and indications for future research

The decision to use the Bortner questionnaire for the study has been set out for measuring
work behaviour. My own justification for using the Bortner questionnaire rather than
alternatives was that it is ‘simple and clear and as well as being easy to administer’.
Practical considerations weighed heavily here: the Bortner questionnaire presented few
translation difficulties and there was concern on my part about the burden being imposed
on the subjects’ time given that they had also been asked to complete a biographical data
sheet and 45 of the subjects had also accepted the invitation to take part in the interview
programme. But practical considerations aside, the questionnaire is well validated and
widely used in developmental settings.
However, my reservations about the Type A Behaviour Questionnaires, having used it
in research, relate rather in the first place to what was measured. Did it measure work
behaviour or did it measure behaviour generally? This is not to imply that there is always
a clear-cut distinction: but the question is important if only because a number of subjects
in the interview sample pointed out a contrast between their frenetic lives at work and the
tranquillity of the home and family environment. A second reservation relates to whether
Type A behaviour should be considered healthy and Type B behaviour unhealthy.
Friedman and Rosenman (1974) distinguish between good (adaptive) and bad
(maladaptive) Type A and B types. Thus, some A types, they suggest are talkative, in
control and charismatic while others are tense, hostile and competitive; some B types are
relaxed and quiet while others are over-controlled inhibitors. Chinese parenting practices
are strong on control of children’s behaviour. Wu (1996) and Ho (1996) commenting on
Chinese child-rearing note that Chinese parents teach their children by example not to
 Wong: Type A behaviour at work 2159
indulge in horseplay, argue, quarrel, joke, slouch, speak in a vulgar manner, upset their
parents and also to obey without question. There is an intriguing possibility that the low
Type B scores obtained in the present study might in part be a reflection of maladaptive
Type B behaviour: inhibition instilled in childhood finding expression in adulthood.
Further research is needed.

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