a-type personality

Phrase coined in the 1950s by US cardiologist Meyer Friedman to describe ‘uptight’ people, shown by his research to be more prone to heart attacks.

A-type personality traits include: a strong need to be an expert on a subject; doing everything rapidly; feeling guilty when relaxing; frequent knee jiggling or finger tapping; a determination to win every game, even when playing those less skilled or less experienced; and speech characterized by explosive acceleration and accentuation of the last few words of a sentence. Meyer's research suggested counselling could help reduce the risk of heart attacks for a-type personalities. Meyer himself continued to work until shortly before his death aged 90.