Similarities in Type a Behavior between Young Children and Their Parents in Japan

Abstract

In Japan similarities in Type A behavior between preschool children and their parents were investigated. Type A scores of 169 pairs of sons and their fathers, 130 pairs of daughters and their fathers, 158 pairs of sons and their mothers, and 121 pairs of daughters and their mothers were measured on the Japanese version of the Matthews Youth Test for Health for children and KG's (Kwansei Gakuin) Daily Life Questionnaire for parents. Self-ratings on the Hard-driving and Time-urgent scale of parents were correlated positively with teachers' Type A ratings of their sons, but no associations were found between scores of parents and their daughters. These results might be consistent with the hypothesis that children might learn Type A behaviors when their parents do not show much interest in child-rearing.