Psy 409a, October 24, 2005

Psy 409a, October 24, 2005

Outline of my Second Presentation (7^th Outline)

By Kristina Peltz

Reducing Road Rage

James, Leon, Dr. & Nahl, Diane, Dr. Road Rage and Aggressive Driving: Steering Clear of Highway Warfare. Prometheus Books: New York. 2000. 178-189.

Instructions for this activity are found at:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy23/409a-g23-oral.htm
Instructor: Dr. Leon James

I. Road rage against passengers

a. Road rage is also a phenomenon that can be directed at passengers, not just other drivers.

b. This road rage against passengers can come in many forms. For example, verbally abusing passengers if they show discomfort or comment on the driver’s behavior, ignoring their concerns, not stopping to let them use the restroom or get something to eat, or even threatening them psychologically and physically by driving dangerously or recklessly.

It is an accepted norm that passengers are not supposed to make comments or complain about someone else’s driving.

c. I never considered that road rage could be directed at passengers; just that it could be indirect by something such as driving dangerously. However, I know realize that road rage can come in many forms. I’m sure we have all heard the term “backseat driver” but probably never considered a driver ignoring our feelings as being aggressive driving.

II. Partnership driving

a. Partnership driving is an approach to driving self-improvement training that utilizes social influence to help change ingrained driving habits that are hard to change. In this approach, you use another person who objectively observes your driving habits and records them and the two people take turns being the driver and the passenger.

b. Based on the statistic that 70% of drivers complain about the aggressiveness of others on the road, but only 30% admit to being aggressive, it’s obvious that it is hard to witness one’s own driving behavior and change it. For this reason, the partnership approach is useful for obtaining an objective view of someone’s driving and using social influence to change bad habits.

c. I think that it would be easier to change bad driving habits if you have someone else who can objectively observe them. It is hard to realize our driving faults without an objective method of observing them. I also think the partnership driving approach is good for helping someone else you know by taking turns observing each other.

III. Random acts of kindness

a. Random acts of kindness can be little things like being patient or waving at another driver, or can take care of more urgent needs such as letting someone enter into your lane. All together, random acts of kindness represent a cultural technology for containing and reversing the habit of road rage and aggressive driving.

b. The cultural significance of random acts of kindness is that some of these acts are small, yet have a contagious influence on others. All kinds of these acts are a source of good feeling that is effective against competitive impulses.

c. I myself feel good when I let someone in who in turn waves at me, and it makes me feel less aggressive. However, sometimes it is hard even to perform the small random acts of kindness when I’m in a bad mood or feeling stressed.