Effects of personal responsibility and latitude for Type A and B individuals on psychological and physiological stress responses

Latitude has been considered a dominant factor in stress reduction. Jobs th at involve high latitude, however, generally are accompanied by high respon sibility, which might induce high levels of stress. Therefore, latitude in a job situation is necessary to examine the effects of responsibility and l atitude together. In this study we examined the effects of personal respons ibility and latitude for Type A and B individuals on psychological and phys iological responses. Thirty-one Type A participants and 31 Type B participa nts were divided into high- and low-responsibility conditions. Personal res ponsibility was operated by disclosures about results of the task performed by groups of 3 participants. Participants received both latitude condition s (self-paced and externally paced task). High responsibility elicited psyc hological responses and increased heart rate; Type A individuals especially showed a remarkable increase of heart rate. On the other hand, latitude di d not reduce strain. We concluded that personal responsibility might be one of the dominant factors of stress elicitation.