Blog Post 3: Type C and the Research
Most of us have grown up knowing about and identifying with “Type A” or “Type B” personalities. Type A people are typically characterized as being more aggressive, competitive, and achievement-oriented. They are highly motivated and organized, with good self control/discipline. More negative Type A traits include impatience, over-ambitiousness, rigidity, and higher levels of anxiety. Type B people, on the other hand, are typically more relaxed, flexible, easygoing, creative. Here, more negative traits include underachievement, passivity, and indifference.
Little did we know there is a third personality type that doesn’t receive as much fanfare: Type C. The first references to this personality type in scientific literature in the context of disease were in the 1970s and 80s, which we reference below. Characteristics of Type C people include being overly conscientious and responsible (pathological niceness), carrying others’ burdens, wanting to please other people, avoiding conflict, needing approval, putting on a facade, dissociation/numbness to one’s own feelings/pain, ignoring or being unaware of one’s own needs, and internalizing toxic emotions, such as anger, resentment, and hostility, and difficulty expressing them.
Unfortunately, a lot of people fall into this category. We will delve into why and how to manage all of this in later blog posts. What’s interesting, and also a surprise to us, is that disease has been linked to Type C personalities. This cancer study looking at “pathological niceness”, for example, finds “the clinical course of the disease is influenced by psychosocial factors and coping style” and “individuals with a more favorable outcome have higher fighting spirit, a greater potential for aggression and lesser suppressive tendencies.” This study had similar findings, as did this one. Certain others had more mixed findings.
What we know for sure, from our own experiences, is that quality of life improves as we work to identify and counteract our own Type C behaviors. Learning to stand up for oneself, let go of guilt, set proper boundaries, and fully express difficult emotions can go a long way toward improving mental AND physical health. While the journey is not always easy, with practice, implementing the strategies we will discuss in this blog can bring our lives into better balance.