Stress is an indispensable aspect of our daily life. Individual of Type-A or type-B personalityrespond to the same stressful event differently. Aim of this study was to assess theimpact of stress and personality on Heart Rate Variability (HRV) in prehypertensives. 115 participants were categorized into type-A and type-B personalities based on modified jenkin’s questionarie as normotensives and prehypertensives based on their blood pressure recordings. During the mental stress, the TP, HF nu, HF LF were decreased (p<0.05). The LF nu and LF/HF ratio were increased (p<0.05), which was statistically significant, indicating an increased sympathetic activity and decreased parasympathetic activity in type-A prehypertensives. We can conclude that the effect of mental stress on HRV in type –A prehypertensives was much more than type-B personalities. This proves that type-A prehypertensives have a hyperactive sympathetic system and are more susceptible to stress than type-B individuals.

Keywords: Type-A Personality; Type-B Personality; Prehypertension, Heart Rate Variability; Stress.