Understanding The Type B Personality

You may have heard about Type A personality, which is the go-getter personality that makes people more outgoing. Type A personality gets a lot of attention, but did you know that in addition to Type A, there are Type B and C personalities? Is it correct to assume that a B personality is the exact opposite of a Type A personality?

The answer is yes, that is a pretty valid description of a type B.

Type A Personality Traits

Those who are said to have a “Type A” personality are the overachieving go-getters. They’re the kids in school who freaked out if they received a B on their book reports. They’re the employees who go so above and beyond to finish a project that they’re bordering on brown-nosing.

Interestingly, the hostile behavior that often accompanies a Type A personality was once linked to heart problems. However, the link has since been clarified to be between hostile behavior and the activities one who displays hostile behavior is more likely to engage in, such as smoking, overeating, drinking, and remaining sedentary – the true origins of many heart problems.

If you’ve ever wanted to tell Marcus from accounting to cut down on his coffee consumption, and you’re not even sure if he drinks coffee, then this is because he is a Type A.

Type A personalities make great athletes because they are competitive. They are also more likely to suffer from health problems because of the anxiety they consistently live with as overachievers. But they can’t help themselves – this is who they are, just as Type B personalities were born to be who they are.

Personality Type B Traits

A person with a Type B personality is easygoing and relaxed about life. They take longer to get angry, and they handle even the toughest emergencies with an enviable sense of calm. Type B is the kind of person who would say something like, “don’t worry – if you don’t get it done today, you can always make time tomorrow,” when the Type A personality is freaking out over a deadline.

The Type B personality can be associated with a movie character who is calmly enjoying life while everyone around him is losing their minds. He’s naturally a relaxed guy. He’s the rock in the storm. This is the epitome of the Type B personality.

Companies often like to know someone’s personality type whether or not its the type B personality. It helps them make predictions on what that employee’s performance is going to be in a particular situation.

For example, you have a deadline you didn’t know about until now. You can predict whether the employee is going to overextend himself, using every possible resource available staying in the office until he gets the project done or whether he is going to turn in a half-completed project because “something is always better than nothing” and “we can always fix it up later"-these are common answers for people with the type B personality.

One personality type isn’t superior to another. Type A isn’t better than Type B personality or vice versa. However, knowing an employee’s personality type can be a good indicator as to how they handle stress. You can also predict which worker more likely to succumb to a health issue because they tend to let stress get the better of them.

Type D Personality Traits

You may have already known about Type A and B personalities, but did you know there is also a Type D personality classification? What kind of personality would be labeled as a Type D?

Type D personalities are well named for their Debbie Downer approach to life. They are prone to negativity. They’re always worried or cranky, and they tend to see the glass half-empty in situations.

Being in such a consistent depressive state is also connected to experiencing coronary issues as well as stress-related illnesses. Type D’s are often known for their tendency to always be sick.

The Pros And Cons Of The Three Personality Types

There are good and bad sides to these three personality classifications While Type A may drive themselves and those around them crazy with their self-imposed stress; they tend to turn in high-quality work and get their job done on time.

This more than likely earns them the money and praise they deserve – but they’re already lining up their next big project (three weeks in advance) and don’t have time to enjoy them.

The more laid-back type B personality approach to a situation can also drive people nuts, but for different reasons. “John, what can I do to make you feel the urgency this situation calls for?” But we may all be able to learn a thing or two from a type B personality: taking a step back, taking a breath, and approaching a situation calmly. After all, life is short. We shouldn’t be burning ourselves out on work that will only satisfy our bosses temporarily. That’s the way someone with a Type B personality thinks.

Changing Your Personality

Of course, we’re always taught to be happy with who we are. But what if our personality is negatively affecting our work or personal life? Making changes is within reach.

Type A Personality

For Type A personalities, this means they need to learn how to harness and control their emotions. They need to be able to rein in their stress levels and learn how to defrag with a good book and a cup of coffee (decaf!) once in a while. Or to sit around for a few moments a day and do absolutely nothing. It’s so simple, and it works wonders.

Put another way; Type A’s could stand to learn a thing or two from a Type B personality.

Type B Personality

People with the type B personality tend to fall behind because they don’t want to be held down by the commitment of setting a goal. But that’s what they need to do to be more successful. We have a plethora of time management apps available to us. Anyone can stick to a schedule when their phone is always sending them push notifications on what is due when.

These apps are helpful because someone with a type B personality could quickly turn into a type A by setting goals for himself that he doesn’t meet, for which he often faces negative consequences. Instead, someone with a type B personality can remain a type B by setting their goals but letting their calendar do the worrying for them. He will still need to work a bit harder to meet those goals, but at least the goals are set – a step up from where he was before when he couldn’t, or wouldn’t remember the dates for his deadlines.

Type D Personality

Type D personalities, unsurprisingly, may have to do the most amount of work to see positive results. For those who are more introverted when it comes to their feelings, they need to learn to open up to others because sometimes talking things through is enough to make you feel better even on your worst days.

Type D’s can also benefit from improving their interpersonal skills. Learning new ways to communicate with friends, family, and co-workers can help them express both their positive and negative feelings, instead of focusing solely on the negative.

Some folks feel the only things worth talking about are negative things because those are the things that genuinely interest people, but this is not true. Your coworker would be just as interested – perhaps more so – in learning about that new thing your baby did yesterday, rather than how your mother needs to go back to the oncologist to get the strange bump on her arm checked.

When it comes to personality types, it is essential to remember that they are as fluid as a person’s sexuality. Many of us have a combination of different personalities – Type A, B, or D.

Stress can bring you down, but it’s important not to hurt yourself or others in the process of being stressed. You don’t want to drive the people around you stressing about meeting deadlines. That’s not healthy or beneficial to you and those around you.

Do you have a Type B personality, and you wish you could be more of Type A? Are you frustrated with always seeing the negative things in life as a Type D? Reach out to one of our BetterHelp counselors today and get the help you need.