Type A behavior pattern today: Relevance of the JAS-S factor to predict heart rate reactivity

The authors used 89 undergraduate students' scores in the S-factor of the J enkins Activity Survey, a measure of speed and impatience, to classify 45 p articipants as high scorers and 44 as low scorers. They then measured the s tudents' tonic and phasic heart rates during an examination, a genuinely st ressful situation. The experiment consisted of three phases: adaptation, ta sk, and recovery. The findings confirmed the authors' hypothesis that the h igh-S scorers would show higher cardiac reactivity values than the low-S sc orers. The authors also observed that the high-S scorers took more time tha t the low-S scorers to recover their initial heart rate values after being exposed to the stress situation. This finding led the authors to suggest th at each group may have different response patterns. They call for further r esearch on individuals with "fast activation-fast recovery" and "fast activ ation-slow recovery" profiles.