ABSTRACT
The structured interview (SI) is widely considered the standard method for assessing Type A behavior (Chesney, Eagleston, & Rosenman, 1980). This is because the SI best fits the construct of Type A behavior as an observable set of behaviors and attributes that occur in a stimulating mileu. Research has repeatedly shown that questionnaire measures of global Type A are poorly correlated with global SI assessments (Chesney, Black, Chadwick, & Rosenman, 1981; Matthews, 1983; Matthews, Krantz, Dembroski, & MacDougall, 1982; Scherwitz, Berton, & Leventhal, 1977; Scherwitz, Graham, Grandits, & Billings, 1987). And both pioneers of the Type A concept maintain that questionnaires do not measure Type A behavior (Friedman, Hall, & Harris, 1985; Rosenman, Swan, & Carmelli, in press).
