Type A behavior and faculty research productivity: What are the mechanisms?

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between Type A behavior and the research productivity of university faculty. The research also examined the roles played by various Type A subfactors (job involvement, competitiveness, and impatience) and by three hypothesized intervening variables (self-efficacy, performance goals, and working on multiple projects) in the Type A—productivity relationship. Results showed a direct relationship between Type A behavior and both quantity and quality indices of faculty research productivity. Findings also supported self-efficacy, goals, and working on multiple projects as variables intervening between the display of Type A behavior and performance. Job involvement was found to be the only Type A subfactor related to productivity.