TikTok users complain about 'type B' coworkers in viral videos.

19 hours ago7 min read2 comments

The digital watercooler is buzzing again, this time with TikTok users collectively sighing over their 'type B' coworkers in a viral trend that feels less like clinical psychology and more like a shared workplace therapy session. It started with creator Eric Sedeño’s now-famous skit, a painfully relatable portrait of a colleague who saunters in past 10 a.m. , laptop blinking a dire 5% battery warning, who confesses to a 4 a.m. bedtime before lamenting the sheer difficulty of the workday—all while blasting music and hopping on Instagram Live.The comment sections are a chorus of recognition: 'Type B people EXPECT everything to work out fine for them and it always does,' one user writes, while another astutely observes, 'This is literally the person that actually gets promoted. ' This online discourse has effectively cemented a modern pop-psychology binary: Type A, the hyper-organized, perpetually anxious planner, versus Type B, the blissfully chaotic, go-with-the-flow free spirit who somehow lands on their feet.It’s a categorization that feels as instinctive as labeling ourselves introverts or extroverts, or proudly declaring our Myers-Briggs type as a shorthand for our entire being. Yet, in my conversations with people about their work lives, a more complex picture emerges.I’ve spoken with self-proclaimed 'type A' project managers whose personal lives are spectacularly messy, and 'type B' creatives who possess an almost militant discipline when it comes to their art. The problem, as it so often is with human behavior, is the spectrum.We are not neatly packaged binaries. Pigeon-holing someone as one or the other risks assigning them a rigid set of traits they may not fully embody; a person can be both intensely hardworking and remarkably flexible, both meticulously organized and wildly creative.Nor is one 'better' than the other, despite our tendency to romanticize the flattering traits of each while conveniently ignoring the downsides—the type A's potential for burnout and rigidity, the type B's occasional unreliability and lack of urgency. The origins of this dichotomy are far removed from its TikTok revival.It was first introduced in the late 1950s by cardiologists Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman, who linked these personality patterns in white, middle-class men to coronary heart disease risk. It’s a framework that has since been largely dismissed by the scientific community as an oversimplification, yet it persists in our cultural lexicon because it’s a fun, accessible conversation starter.And perhaps there's a kernel of utility in that. A 2023 study published in *Nature* suggested that startups prioritizing a diverse range of personalities were more likely to succeed, hinting that the friction and synergy between different working styles can be a powerful engine for innovation.So, the next time you find yourself exasperated by your type B coworker’s last-minute, miraculously successful presentation, or envious of your type A colleague’s color-coded calendar, it’s worth remembering that these labels are merely costumes we try on. The real work, both in the office and in understanding ourselves, is learning to appreciate the unique, contradictory, and beautifully messy human being wearing them.

#TikTok

#type B personality

#workplace culture

#viral videos

#pop psychology

#featured

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