Report 2:
My Understanding of Driving Psychology
By Andrea Hiura
Instructions for this report are at:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy23/409a-g23-report2.htm
I am answering Questions 1, 2, 3, 4, & 7.

My Report of the Previous Generation: From Generation 22 I chose to review the reports done by Beeler, Dicho, and Makinano. It seems that Generation 22- report 2 is similar to ours in the case that they have to answer 5 questions that they select, and also they must write up a section that gives advice to future generations. However, instead of having to evaluate the previous generation’s reports; they are required to give a brief summary of their current generation, and what they have and are learning currently. I went over reports by Beeler, Lacy, and Makinano. Each of their reports seemed well organized and well thought out. I am happy that I got to review their reports because now I have a better idea of what the entire report should look like in terms of length and organization. This report is nothing like report 1. It is much more extensive and will require a lot of reading and thinking. I felt that all three reports were well executed and well thought out.

The Question I am answering is Question 1: (a) Consider Tables 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the Lecture Notes, in the Section on Driving Psychology Theory and Charts at www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy22/409a-g23-lecturenotes.htm#Charts Consult the article from which the Tables were taken. (b) Using your own words, describe the three behavioral domains and levels of a driver (nine cells). (c) Illustrate each domain with your own driving behavior skills and errors, or that of another driver you know well, or a driver in a particular movie. (d) Make up a "driving personality makeover" plan for yourself (or another driver you know well), relating specifically to negative thoughts you have about other road users. (e) Discuss the problems you anticipate in carrying out such a plan successfully. (f) Any other comments you wish to make.

(a) There are tables taken from different articles on Driving Psychology Theory. The first three tables discuss the three domains of a driving personality. Or as we’ve learned in class, “The Threefold Self” of driving. First is Affective-which is our emotions and feelings while driving. Secondly there is the Cognitive domain-our thoughts while driving. Thirdly, there is the Sensori-motor domain-which is our actions and behavior. The fourth table talks about the “Three step method”.

(b) Table one gives three positive emotions, thoughts, and actions while driving, and then the opposite negative emotions, thoughts, and actions. These are common in all of us whether we realize it or not.

Table two touches upon three specific areas of driving and they are: driving responsibly, safely, and proficiently. It goes on to integrate the positive and negative examples of our “Threefold self” and how our feelings, thoughts, and behavior are guided in terms of responsibility, safety, and proficiency. A lot of times when we are driving with a negative outlook while driving we don’t consider our safety.

As I mentioned before, having a negative affect towards driving can lead to risky and unsafe driving behavior, which can be potentially very dangerous. In table three it explains how one must overcome negative driving through each aspect of the domains. While consciously trying to convert your bad habits to good, it will become easier and easier to react less aggressively. This table gives you suggestions on how to do just that. The last half of the table explains what a driver must go through in the transition from an aggressive driver to a supportive driver.

Lastly, in table four it explains the “Three step method”: Acknowledge, Witness, Modify. This goes hand in hand with the “Threefold self”. We must acknowledge our feelings (affective), witness our mistakes (cognitive), and modify our aggressive actions (sensori-motor). Not everyone has either all negative, or all positive feelings towards driving. We all carry both in a way. Personally I use driving to relieve stress. I like just driving with no destination looking at all the things pass me by. But then when I am sitting in morning traffic trying to get to class on time, I hate traffic and I hate how congested the roads have become.

(c)

Positive-Skills
Affective	Cognitive	Sensorimotor
The car next to me has their blinker on. This sucks should I break for them?	They just need to cut-over. They’re not trying to cut me off. It’s not personal.	I will slow down and let them in because they seem to really need to change lanes.
Negative-Errors
Affective	Cognitive	Sensorimotor
The car next to me has their blinker on. This sucks should I slow down to let them in?	No way! They should’ve been in this lane in the first place. They waited till the last minute.	I’ll speed up and tail the person in front of me so they can’t cut in.

(d) “My Driving Personality Makeover”

Affective	Cognitive	Sensorimotor
I’m late for work!!! I cannot be late, what if I get fired?	I just can’t be late; but that doesn’t give me the right to speed and weave in and out. I could get into an accident. I should’ve anticipated traffic.	I’ll call the boss, and next time I’ll leave earlier. They will just have to understand. Better safe than sorry.
This guy just came from the back of me to cut in front of me. This guy needs to pay for this!	Maybe this person is more in a rush than I am. Maybe I am driving too slowly for this lane. I should just let this go. I’m being ridiculous.	I will cut over to the right lane, that way I can keep my pace. Either that or I could speed up a little to keep up in the fast lane.
I’m really hungry. I have candy in the backseat. I just have to hold one hand on the wheel, and reach back really quickly.	I would only be taking my attention off the road for a little while. No I shouldn’t that’s way too dangerous. I can wait till later.	I can either wait till I reach a stoplight, or until I reach my destination to eat, it’s not that much further.

(e) If you were to give yourself a driving personality change was so easy then everyone would be doing it. People like any other habit, have difficulty in changing their everyday thinking and behavior. It’s a process like anything else. It will take time. At first it will take some conscious effort, even uncomfortable going against your old ways. But soon enough it will become a new habit, and more automatic.

The Question I am answering is Question 2: (a) Give a brief review of our two textbooks: Road Rage and Aggressive Driving (James and Nahl), and Driving Lessons: Exploring Systems That Make Traffic Safer (Peter Rothe, Editor). The reviews should be between 3 and 6 paragraphs for each text. (b) Select one chapter from each text and give a summary of it. (c) Discuss in what way will these ideas contribute to solving society’s driving problems. (d) Any other comments you wish to make.

(a) Road rage and aggressive Driving. This book published in 2000, was written by Dr. Leon James and Dr. Diane Nahl, husband and wife respectively. They have dedicated their careers to trying to define, and come up with solutions to today’s traffic problems. Road Rage and Aggressive Driving takes you to a whole different thinking level when it comes to traffic situations. It defines aggressive driving and road rage as well as discussing the different types of road rage, and they go on to explain why we develop road rage from an emotional, psychological, and physiological perspective. They also introduce you to the three-step driver self-improvement program - which we have become very familiar with after taking this class.

This book doesn’t hesitate to give you the shocking statistics of how prevalent driving fatalities and injuries are around the world. We all know how traffic accidents are common; we see them everyday on the roads. They are the cause of us being late. They are what cause us to stress out in traffic. Yet we seem to think about traffic accidents and fatalities as things that just can’t be helped sometimes. This book brings to your attention what a tragedy this problem is, and what we can do to help ourselves from becoming another statistic. Attempting to improve yourself as a driver through the “Three Step Driver Self-Improvement Program” could potentially save you and your family’s life.

Another important discussion topic brought about in this book is the subject of what is a “good” driver. In society many of us have learned that the opposite of aggressive driving, is defensive driving. I admit that this is what I had come to believe, and I would define myself sometimes as a defensive driver. However, this chapter will explain that there is a better and safer way to drive than defensively, and the answer is to become a “supportive” driver.

I feel road rage is a phenomenon that is taking the world by storm. Traffic accidents take lives everyday, and people need to become more aware, and I encourage psychologists and sociologists to take interest in this subject, and help to come up with effective solutions. This book contains information from numerous studies that have been done. It shows how everyone reports being a victim of road rage, but not nearly everyone reports that they themselves are an aggressive driver. Through this book they will learn that there are more types of aggression than one, and that everyone falls into one category or another. As we’ve all come to realize in class, we have all acted upon others aggressively, whether it was passive or not so passive.

This book is very applicable as well as fruitful. I encourage everyone to read this book, especially parents, teachers, and teenagers. We may not be able to totally reform this generation, but I feel that the way to be effective for improvement in the future is to better educate young learning drivers, even before they can develop bad habits. The number of fatalities, injuries, and traffic violations should be decreasing with the amount of research shown. This book and area of research is very fruitful, and like I said it needs dedicated researchers to help find out what is going on, and how to help it.

Driving Lessons: Exploring Systems That Make Traffic Safer. J. Peter Rothe, Editor.

Driving Lessons is an equally good book, approaching the problem of road rage in a very different structure. Rothe divides his book into three different subsystems: Section 1-Personal Sub-systems, Section 2-Institutional Sub-Systems, and Section 3-Technical Sub-systems. He has gathered articles, and real life situations as reported by Rothe, Dr. James and other various authors. This book was published in Canada, so much of the experiences and surveys are based on the Canadian population; however, we have seen that the trends are similar, and that cross-culturally we really aren’t that different in this area of driving psychology.

This book covers a lot of hot topics in aggressive driving and is presented in a more complex scientific manner. I admit that I had a hard time understanding some of the articles that I read because it was difficult to understand especially the articles discussing the institutional sub-systems such as the economical and political aspects of traffic safety. It’s similar to Road Rage in the sense that it will really make you aware that this is a major problem, and there needs to be answers; however it doesn’t offer solutions.

On the surface, the topic of driving and traffic safety seems so simple; but what I have learned through this book is that driving is comprised of so many different domains and aspects. That is why it is so hard to come up with an effective solution. We have tried making cars safer; reforming the driver education policy, and increase road enforcement. They all help a little but not significantly.

This book is fruitful especially to researchers because it brings about a lot of current research topics in driving. There is a lot more to know and a lot more to explore, and this book helps us to see what is being done, and what needs to be done.

(b) Road Rage and Aggressive Driving: I chose the chapter entitled: Road Rage Nursery (which begins on Page 151). I chose this chapter because in the area of psychology I am interested in the developmental aspect, and this chapter connects driving psychology to the study of developmental psychology. Children are like sponges from a very early age and they will mimic your actions. I thought that this was very interesting because it shows how road rage is actually taught from infancy. This “Road Rage Nursery” starts from the day the baby goes home from the hospital in the car. It is just another example of how we must be at our best behavior around our children at all times.

Studies have shown that people who are aggressive and who exhibit road rage often have parents or a role model who does the same. As parents we must be cognitively aware not to create this “road rage nursery” when we become parents. This is one step closer to improving driver awareness in future generations. This chapter also discusses how we should teach children good driving habits from an early age, and also how to be a respectful passenger not to provoke your driver to act out unnecessarily. Also, remember positive reinforcement as much as possible, steer clear of punishment and negativity because that would make you a hypocrite.

Driving Lessons: I chose Chapter 3 entitled: “Dealing With Stress Aggression and Pressure in the Vehicle” by Leon James (which begins on page 21). Dr. James describes driving behavior as affective, cognitive, and sensori-motor.

In this chapter he talks about why we view driving as such a stressful task. Some of us view driving as relaxing, but most of us see driving as negative and even scary for some. Dr. James says that the 15 top stressors while driving include: immobility, constriction, regulation, lack of control, being put in danger, territoriality, diversity, multi-tasking denying our mistakes, cynicism, loss of objectivity, venting, unpredictability, ambiguity, and lack of emotional intelligence. I never really thought of all of these reasons while driving, but now that I think of it I can see that we are experiencing almost all of these things while we are driving and often all at the same time. Now that’s stress!

It is also in this book that he touches upon the importance of setting a good example. Growing up, we learn in society that aggressive driving is more of a cultural normality, rather than a deviant act. Children learn from adults and through the years it becomes what they know, and then when they become adults, those are the habits that they practice.

Lastly in this article, Dr. James discuses his theory of the “Three fold self”. This theory is made up of the affective, cognitive, and sensori-motor domains. Driving is a very psychological process, and that our cognitive and affective domains, is what ultimately determines our actions. James uses the threefold self to help one first acknowledge particular negative behaviors, witness that they are performing this negative behavior, and then finally working on modifying this behavior.

Often times we act out upon our emotions, and often regretting our actions later. If we actually thought out our reactions, maybe we would regret less. You also have less of a risk of making yourself look foolish.

(c) Ideas from both of these chapters are great contributions to the effort of solving society’s driving problems. From the road rage book I am a firm believer that today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders. In a lot of situations such as war, poverty, the environment, and now traffic safety, it is up to the children now to make things better and to reform their generation. Children are like sponges when they are young. They soak everything up, and are great at imitating others. That is why it is so vital that we set a good example in front of our children at all times. There is a great chance if you exhibit road rage, your children will too.

From Dr. James article in the Driving Lessons book, he offers the solution of recognizing our “Three fold self”. This is a great step and one of the best that we know of in trying to make ourselves step out of being aggressive drivers, and trying to be a supportive driver. Most of the time if we actually stopped to think why we are so stressed, or upset we’d realize how irrational we sound. Nothing dictates what we do stronger than our thoughts and feelings. If we make an attempt to control these domains, then maybe we will have a good chance of not driving so recklessly and violent acts of road rage can be avoided.

(d) I would never have known any of this stuff had I not taken this class. I was surprised that our class was all female, because I feel that men are greatly the ones who need to take classes on driving aggression, and the dangers of breaking traffic laws.

The Question I am answering is Question 3: (a) Discuss these two Web sites: drivers.com vs. drdriving.org by first describing their overall appearance and purpose. (b) What are their main differences? Be sure to consider at least these areas: (i) Content of Articles (ii) Content and Tone of Newsletters, when present. (iii) Style of the site (iv) probable audience (v) public relations or policy, etc. (vi) advertising (if any) (vii) Ranking (see Google or Alexa). (viii) Other sites that link to each. (c) Any other comments you wish to make.

(a) Judging by the initial reaction to seeing both pages for the first time, I expected them to be very similar in fashion and nature. I thought that these two were competing sites, but they cannot even begin to compare. First off, the aesthetics of your home page is vital. People who are first time visitors are going to judge your credibility by the organization and presentation of your home page.

When I first went to drivers.com I thought that I had gone to the wrong page because half of the page is discussing computer drivers. Then the right side of the page discusses issues in the driving of cars. My thoughts were how could this be the top site for “driver” information, when they are on totally different topics. Also it isn’t very impressive, and it doesn’t include a lot of links, you pretty much have to navigate around yourself to see what you can find.

I am a frequent visitor to drdriving.org throughout the semester I used articles from this site for my related web-links in my oral presentations. This site is extremely user friendly, and right from the start you know what the purpose of the site is. My favorite thing about this home page is that it doesn’t take much navigating to find what you want. Most domains of driving related issues are all included as links on the home page.

As far as what I think the purpose of drivers.com is, I feel that it serves as a general database, which holds related links to articles in that topic. It doesn’t go into detail about each topic, just article links. For a site that is self-proclaimed the “The World’s Leading Drivers Site” it really doesn’t include that much information.

On the other hand the purpose of the drdriving.org is very clear much like the course we are taking. Dr. Leon James and Dr. Diane Nahl have taken the subject of driving psychology and traffic safety to a more personal level. They have made it their career to research trends, discover ways to help people become better drivers, so that we can see these alarming numbers of fatalities and injuries decline.

(b) Main Differences

i. Content of articles:

Drivers.com does seem to be a database for articles but it seems that they will take just about anything as long as it relates to driving in it. It doesn’t seem that there was much research as to find the best articles and put them in the appropriate categories. Like I said before you have to navigate around and a lot of the topics that they list are very general.

At drdriving.org there are not only the general topics of driving and traffic safety, there are also very specific topics such as children and teens, if you are doing research, or want to find articles on statistics or research done in that specific area. It’s easier to rely on these articles to be credible and relevant, because you know that these articles were chosen to be put on the website by two psychologists who have dedicate the past couple of decades to research in this topic.

(ii) Content and tone of newsletters:

I didn’t much information on newsletters from either site. Both sites are up to date. Drivers.com doesn’t have any introduction or statistics or newsletters that are posted currently on their pages, just basic facts. On drdriving.org there seems to be a letter to all drivers informing new visitors to his site what exactly is driving psychology and what is being done, and what needs to be done in the area of traffic safety.

The tone of the information is different. The message you get from drivers.com comes forth as very professional and impersonal. Drdriving.org comes across very professional and personal. They make readers feel that their site is for everyone, and important to everyone. Drivers.com does offer an online newsletter to their readers.

(iii) Style of the site.

Like I mentioned earlier, the style of drivers.com is very professional and impersonal. It will make you confused because they talk about computer drivers, and car drivers. To me although they share the same word, they have totally different meanings, and I still don’t quite understand why they would put these two together on the same site.

It starts to make me question their credibility. Although they do have a lot of information pertaining to both subjects, I do not feel a passion or real dedication to either unlike drdriving.org. It feels very business like. They have numerous links on their pages for businesses that wish to advertise on their page. It seems they just want a lot of visitors so that they can make money off of advertisements.

Drdriving.org on the other hand feels very welcoming and very passionate about every aspect of the subject, and a real wanting for change. There are no advertisements, you know that they are not being paid to have their website up.

(iv) Probable Audience

It seems that drdriving.org is meant to target everyone. They really want to see reform in road rage and aggressive drivers. Their article is very scientific and very research-based, yet it is easily understood by the public.

Drivers.com on the other hand doesn’t seem to care that much who they reach. They also want to reach everyone that is interested in computers or cars, so that advertising companies will want to buy a spot on their site. Drivers.com is also based out of Canada, so maybe much of their information relates to traffic policy in Canada.

(v) Public Relations or policy, etc.

Public relations and policy seems to be such a business legal concern in developing web pages. Drivers.com does go into great depth of their policy. Drdriving.org doesn’t go into policy because his web page is not there for the business aspect. The website is not there for advertisements or to reach other businesses for whatever reasons.

(vi) Advertising

I know I am starting to sound very redundant, but drivers.com does advertise. You can tell that it is one of those sites that are up there to inform, but also to make money from businesses who take advantage of advertising via internet. I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with advertisements on sites, I mean it is a good way to make money.

I feel that too much advertisements on a page takes away from the credibility, and it makes it very impersonal and unwelcoming. I hate going to websites who have things flashing, and pop-ups, it really distracts from the information. Drdriving.org doesn’t have any of that. It is there simply for the right information to reach readers who want to know more.

(vii) Size

Both sites do contain a great amount of articles and information. I feel that drivers.com have only very general topics in the area of traffic safety and driving situations; whereas drdriving.org is extremely expansive, and in depth covering many, many topics in this area. Most topics that we typically wouldn’t have thought related to us as drivers.

(viii) Ranking

I decided to pretend that I was just someone who wanted to know more about road rage and traffic safety. I went to Google.com and typed some generic terms into the search bar. (For example, “aggressive driving”, and “better road enforcement”) For term that I had searched, drdriving.org always showed up higher in my search than drivers.com. In many cases neither were on the first page, but it was always soon, like on the second or third page. Also, in many cases drivers.com did not even show up in the first several search result pages.

( c) Additional comments

I felt that both sites were informational; however, when there is a time that I will need to educate someone on how to control their road rage, or anyone who is interested in doing research in this area, I will let them know what website to go to for their information, and who to go see.

The Question I am answering is Question 4: (a) Select three of the following student reports from Generation 15. (b) Summarize each of the three reports. Be sure you put a link to the report you are referring to. (c) Add a General Conclusion Section in which you discuss your reactions to what they did- (i) their ideas, (ii) their method, (iii) their explanations. (d) What did they gain from doing their reports? (e) How do their ideas influence what you yourself think about these issues? (f) Any other comments you wish to make.

(a&b) #1) Alyssa Chun - http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409af2001/chun/report2.htm

This student concentrated on mainly discussing the topics of the “Emotional Spin Cycle”, “The Threefold Self”, and the “Three Step Method”. She explains that the “Emotional Spin Cycle” is comprised of both positive and negative feelings, and how those feelings lead to thoughts, and ultimately lead to our actions. If we become aware of our thoughts and feelings at that moment, then we have a better chance of grabbing hold of our emotions and controlling our behavior. “Threefold Self” is made up of three components: cognitive, affective, and sensory motor. The “Three Step Method” refers to Acknowledge, Witness Modify.

I was very impressed with the presentation of her report. This person obviously knows how to create a very aesthetic report, as well as being informative. The student concludes by saying that prior to her assignment she was “unaware of the sensations (she) experienced when (she) encountered certain situations”. She is now more aware of what she’s feeling so that now she may modify how she thinks and reacts to different situations.

#2) Natalia Lukey - http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409af2001/lukey/report2.htm

The main goal of the project was to understand her emotional spin cycle. She later goes on to discuss the “Three step Method” and the “Self monitoring method”. She concludes by talking about how she learned a lot about herself during this project and how this assignment has impacted the way that she carries herself in her day to day life. The pointed out that the “Bridge” technique was especially helpful. The “bridge” refers to the point when you cross from a negative point of view to a positive one. Before you can cross the bridge you need to be able to change your thoughts and become more of a rational thinker.

This report was also very aesthetic, although the font was a little hard to read. This report I thought was very organized and put into sections. I also thought that the graph was very helpful.

#3) Shell87 - www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409bf2001/shellgirl/report2.htm

Even though this report came from a 409b class it seemed like the directions were the same. The purpose seemed to log down during the day times when you utilized one of the techniques that were taught in class, and then to analyze them to see which techniques really help. The thing that really helped me to understand her report so quickly was that unlike the other reports she actually logged down her actions by day and night. I found it easier to follow what she was trying to do. She mainly discussed the “Three fold self” and how it influenced her thought processes and behavior throughout the day. At various times she would self-reflect on what she was feeling (affective), what she was thinking (cognitive), and what she was doing (sensori-motor). She reported that having to self reflect is what helped her to modify.

This report was very aesthetic it had a lot of cute little pictures and different colors. I am so jealous because I have no idea how to make my report as cute and creative as these girls have.

(c) (i) Their ideas were all similar in the sense that they all discussed the significance of the “Emotional spin cycle” and how to improve themselves through the “Three step method” by Dr. James. The assignment seemed to be that they had to consciously keep track throughout the day of reflecting on what they were feeling, thinking, and doing at random times.

(ii) Their methods were all similar yet different. One difference that they had was the method that they had used to select what moments they were going to report. One girl would write about when she was doing or thinking something pretty significant. While the other girls would stop and reflect when they were just sitting around doing nothing so it was easy to stop and reflect. They would rate their feelings and actions on a scale. To remedy their thoughts and feelings if they were negative they each touched upon different methods. They all used the “Three step method”, and one girl talked about the “Bridge”.

(iii) I liked the organization of the third report that I read because she wrote out her schedule, and so it was easy to understand what she had to do. The other reports were all in one long paragraph so I knew they had to write. Each report was good and seemed lengthy in response so it was obvious that they had to put a lot of thinking into their explanation of the assignment.

(d) They all reported that they gained the same knowledge from this assignment. They said that they learned how to be conscious of their thoughts and feelings throughout certain times of the day and how those feelings were really reflected in their actions. I think that they all have better control over their thoughts, and are more cognitively in control, which is great because then they are less likely to act out based on emotions. Decisions can now be more conscious. Most of them reported that when they reflected on their actions, they realized how silly some of their thoughts and feelings were over something that really wasn’t that big of deal. They also recommend everyone to do this.

(e) I learned what they have learned a little from our class discussions. In one of my outlines I presented in class, I talked about how our thoughts and emotions play a big role in our decisions of how we behave. We often act out, “in the moment” and end up regretting it later. This I feel relates to us as drivers, but in all aspects of life. For an example if you are an emotional eater who is trying to diet. I wish that we got to do this assignment, I think we all would have really learned a lot from it; however, I feel that I’ve learned a lot by just skimming through these reports. I want to go out there now and jot down randomly what I am thinking and doing during the day.

(f) I believe that sometimes it takes writing things out and having it on black and white in front of us for us to realize what we are really doing. You can tell someone that they are acting irrationally, but that would probably piss them off even more. Documenting everything is a great hit of realization.

The Question I am answering is Question 7: (a) Our textbook Road Rage and Aggressive Driving has a checklist exercises in several chapters. Do the following four exercises: (i) Exercise on How Passenger-Friendly Are You on p.184-5, (ii) Exercise on Witnessing Your Aggressive Driving on p.140-3, (iii) Exercise on Your Road Rage Tendency on p.40-42, (iv) Exercise on Your Verbal Road Rage Tendency on p.91. (b) What were your reactions to each exercise? (c) Discuss how these exercises help you to become more aware of yourself as a driver. (d) Do some of the exercises with another driver you know. How do they help you understand some principles of driving psychology mentioned in the book? Discuss and illustrate. (e) Any other comments you wish to make.

(a) (i) How Passenger-Friendly Are You? p. 184-185

#	Question	My Answer
1	I always consider my passenger’s feelings.	T
2	I adjust my driving to accommodate to my passengers’ comfort.	T
3	I let my passengers influence my driving for the better.	T
4	I want my passengers to think of me as a good and safe driver.	T
5	I try to avoid making driving mistakes even more when I have passengers.	T
6	I think that passengers should just sit back, relax, and leave the driving to me. But if they feel more comfortable participating, I let them if it’s safe.	T
7	My passengers can control the air-conditioning and windows.	T-usually
8	Passengers have the right to criticize the driver’s behavior.	F
9	I want my passengers to be grateful and show appreciation, but if they don’t I won’t resent it or hold it against them.	T
10	My passengers can select the music.	T-usually

(ii) Witnessing Your Aggressive Driving

Emotions: I choose to observe if I ever feel justified in retaliating when another driver insults you (#5), and if I ever feel hostile when your progress is impeded by congestions.

Thoughts: I choose to observe if I ever think that other drivers are fools, airheads, rejects, and so on (#7), and if I believe that if I don’t leave early enough; thinking that I can make up time by driving faster (#6).

Actions: I choose to witness if I ever refuse to signal when required by law (#1), and if I drive under the influence of alcohol or medication (#18).

(iii) Road Rage Tendency

Statement	Y/N
I swear a lot more in traffic than I do elsewhere.	Y
I normally have critical thoughts about other drivers.	Y
When a driver in a parking lot tries to steal the space I’ve been waiting for, I get furious.	Y
I fantasize about doing violence to other drivers-but it’s just a fantasy.	N
When drivers do something really “stupid” that endangers me, or my car, I get furious, even aggressive.	Y
It’s good to get your anger out because we all have aggressive feelings inside that naturally come out under stressful situations.	N
When I’m very upset about something, it’s a relief to step on the gas to give my feelings an outlet.	N
I feel that it’s important to force certain drivers to behave appropriately on the highway.	Y
Pedestrians shouldn’t have the right to walk slowly in crosswalks when cars are waiting.	N
Pushy drivers really annoy me so I bad-mouth them to feel better.	Y
I tailgate when someone drives too slow for conditions or in the passing lane.	Y
I try to get to my destination in the shortest time possible, or else it doesn’t feel right.	N
If I stopped driving aggressively, others would take advantage of my passivity.	Y
I feel unpleasant emotions when someone beats me to the light or when someone gets through and I’m stuck on red.	N
I feel energized by the sense of power and competition I experience while driving aggressively.	N
I hate speed bumps and speed limits that are set too low.	Y
Once in a while I get so frustrated in traffic that I begin to drive somewhat recklessly.	N
I hate large trucks and I refuse to drive differently around them.	N
Sometimes I feel that I’m holding up traffic so I start driving faster than feels comfortable.	Y
I would feel embarrassed to “get stuck” behind a large vehicle on a steep road.	N

(iv)Verbal Road Rage Tendency

Statement	Do I say that?
Hey fool, get out of the way!	Y
What’s wrong with this driver? I can’t believe how slow he’s going!	N
Nope, I won’t let you sneak into my lane.	Y
Hey, what’s the big rush? Don’t be so pushy!	Y
I’d like to see you squirm, you pushy geek.	Y
Did that scare you? Good. I hope it teaches you a lesson.	N
I’m tailgating you now. Pay you back. So who’s the smart one, huh?	Y
Figures, it’s a woman. Women can’t drive for ____! (age, race, ethnic)	Y
I hope you break your neck!	N
Who do you think you are, creep?	Y
Get a life!	Y
Look, that airhead left his blinker on!	Y

(b) In the first exercise that evaluates how passenger-friendly you are, I was surprised to find that I had said “true” to almost all statements. I think I can speak for most drivers when I say that I drive very differently when there is a passenger, as compared to if I was driving by myself. When you are driving you have the responsibility of getting your passenger to the next destination safely and comfortably. I often ask the passenger to be participatory because I am horrible with directions, and others usually know more than I do about that type of stuff. I don’t mind driving so I usually do. I find myself keeping to a comfortable speed, always signaling, and make sure not to bring attention to my driving.

In the second exercise: Witnessing your aggressive driving, it asks you to choose some of the situations on the lists and consciously observe when and if you do them while you drive. It was split into the three domains of emotions (affective), thoughts (cognitive), and actions (sensori-motor). For the “emotions” section I choose #5 and #3. I’ve noticed that almost every time I feel insulted by another driver, I need to retaliate. If I don’t, justice hasn’t been served. It really bothers me if people can get away with just putting someone’s life in danger and just drive off, usually unaware that they had even done anything. I don’t ever do anything irrational like tail them, or follow them, I just like to give the “stink-eye” just to let them know that they have done wrong.

From the thoughts checklist I had chose #7 and #6. I noticed that when I drive, there are more bad words that come out of my mouth than in any other situation. I am not one to use bad words or to ever call other people bad names, but when I’m in the car I find that it comes out automatically. It just really bothers me, but I feel free to say whatever I want about the other driver because they could never hear me, they don’t know who I am, and yeah it makes me feel a little better after I get it out. It’s almost like I have to say it out loud, just thinking it in my head doesn’t make me feel any better. If someone else is in my passenger seat it will still come out, depending on who the passenger is; but usually I like to have some agreement from another witness.

#6 states that if I don’t leave early enough that I feel like I have to make up the time by driving faster. I do this much too often. If I am running a few minutes late I don’t fret it, but if I am significantly late and it’s for something that requires me to be there on time or earlier, then yes I definitely find that I am constantly changing lanes, speeding up, running yellow lights, but nothing too crazy like cutting people off, going more than ten miles over speed limit, or running red lights. Do I feel that being late justifies my actions of speeding faster? Sometimes I do because I am just driving more aggressively than usual but not to the point where I am endangering someone else’s life.

As far as the Actions sections, I had chosen to witne