Coronary-Prone Behavior Pattern, Task Incentive, and Cardiovascular Response

In this experiment it was predicted that the presence or absence of a performance-contingent incentive (monetary reward) would mediate effects of the coronary-prone behavior pattern on behavioral and cardiovascular responses to a difficult cognitive task. Accordingly, 44 subjects of the Type A (coronary-prone) and Type B (non-coronary-prone) behavior patterns were assigned to one of two task conditions, labelled Incentive and No Incentive. Results indicated that under No Incentive Type As performed better at the experimental task and reported less state anxiety than Type Bs, whereas in the Incentive condition, Type A and B subjects showed no differences in task performance or self-report of anxiety. Concerning cardiovascular measures, analysis of variance revealed significantly greater systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure elevations for Type A than Type B subjects, but showed no reliable interactions of the Type A, B and Incentive factors nor any related effects regarding heart rate or diastolic blood pressure. Individual differences in subjects' scores on the inventory for coronary-prone behavior pattern, however, correlated positively with heart rate accelerations in the No Incentive condition, but did not covary with heart rate changes under Incentive. With respect to subjects' perceptions of the task, self-report data suggested that Type As responded in a more active and involved manner and resisted feelings of helplessness to a greater extent than their Type B counterparts.