Cross-validational studies of the personality correlates of the A-B therapist "type" distinction among professionals and nonprofessionals

Notes that research with the A-B therapist "type" variable has included many analog studies in which A and B undergraduates have been assumed to be personologically similar to A and B professionals. To assess whether this "invariance assumption" is tenable across samples varying in vocational commitment/training, sex, education, and adjustment, the personality correlates of A-B status (identified in a prior study with the Personality Research Form) was cross-validated across 5 new samples. A and B Ss among 94 male professionals, 661 male undergraduates, 114 male college clinic patients, and 720 female undergraduates were compared. Univariate and multivariate analyses lent strong support to the invariance assumption: in every sample, B-type Ss exceeded A-type Ss on scales measuring risk taking, dominance, change, sentience, and "counterdependence." (32 ref.)