According to Bennett's findings, people with Type A personalities aren't necessarily the most frayed. In fact, Bennett suggests that middle managers are most likely to suffer the emotional strain of trying to appease a boss, a staff, and personal ambitions. In his study, presented at a meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine this April, Bennett spoke with 74 men about work and life, and then played an audio tape relating a stressful situation. Bennett, like various other scientists, found links between perceived control, mental stress, and physical well being. The emotions are toxic.
Every individual responds to stress differently.
Therefore, no universal prescription can reduce its effects for everyone, Bennett says. Say you have two CEOs. One CEO is mobilized to grow his company, but he doesn't feel he has a high degree of control over the market, over his organization, over his managers or even over his performance. The second CEO looks at the same situation and feels comfortable with his role. These different perceptions may result in two very different health consequences.