This study used Hutchins’ T-F-A System as a conceptual framework to determine whether relationships exist among thinking-feeling-acting (T-F-A) behavior patterns, selected personality characteristics, coping strategies, and Type A/B behavior patterns. Variables were measured by the Hutchins Behavior Inventory or HBI (T-F-A patterns), the Adjective Check List (personality characteristics), the Ways of Coping Scales (coping strategies), and The Jenkins Activity Survey (Type A/B behavior).

Subjects were 77 employed males who were members of service organizations in three small West Virginia towns. Subjects were classified into one of four T-F-A pattern groups on the basis of their HBI responses to a self-identified stressful work situation.

Statistical strategies involved analyzing the variables with crosstabulation, analyses of variance and covariance, and multivariate analysis of variance. No- significant differential effect of the T-F-A classification on Type A/B behavior nor on any of the Type A/B subscales was discerned. Likewise, when controlling for the effects of selected personality factors and for the effects of coping strategies on Type A/B' behavior, no significant differences were observed across the four T-F-A pattern groups. Possible explanations for the absence of significant differences on these measures and the utility of the study were discussed.