Psychology 409, September 28, 2006
Does Road Rage Require Intervention
By Lida Atkinson

Instructions for this activity are found at:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy25/g25-oral1.htm 
Instructor: Dr. Leon James

 

Galovski, T. E. & Blanchard, E. B. (2004). Road rage: A domain for psychological intervention? Aggression and Violent Behavior: A Review Journal, Vol. 9, pp. 105-127.

 

Concept 1: Is “road rage” a danger?

  1. An increase in the amount of cars on the road.
    1. An increase in motor vehicle accidents (MVA).

                                                               i.      517 cars for every 1000 people

                                                             ii.      One person dies every 13 minutes in a MVA

                                                            iii.      $150 billion in economic loss

    1. Fatalities and injuries have decreased from 1970 to 1996

 

Concept 2: The definition, variables and treatments of “road rage”

  1. Definition
    1. 90% of accidents are attributed to human factors

                                                               i.      Behavior problems such as speeding, cutting, refusing to yield the right of way and driving on the wrong side of the road

                                                             ii.      Attitude problems such as negligence, recklessness, and antisocial

    1. Lapses

                                                               i.      Inattention to the mechanics of driving

    1. Errors

                                                               i.      A misjudgment or failure to observe the rules of driving

    1. Violations

                                                               i.      An intentional disregard of the rules of driving 

  1. Variables
    1. Social and interpersonal variables

                                                               i.      The car as a social status symbol

1.      The higher the social status the lower the instances of receiving aggression in one study

2.      Newer cars received more instances of aggression in a study 10 years later

3.      inhibitions towards aggression reduced by anonymity  

                                                             ii.      Little difference between the sexes engaging in aggressive driving

1.      Men – more overt aggression

2.      Women – less detectable forms of aggression

                                                            iii.      The younger the driver the higher the rate of aggression

1.      report more stress when driving

2.      Less able to cope with stress

    1. Driver stress and environment

                                                               i.      Embeddedness is a persons anger being affected across space and time by other variables, example, financial stress and the economy affecting what car is driven and how long the commute

                                                             ii.      Interrelatedness is anger that is affected by past experiences, example, being stuck in traffic causes an argument at home.

                                                            iii.      Transformationality is the cycle of escalation of anger from an isolated instance to more serious acts of aggression

    1. Impact on functioning

                                                               i.      Driver stress contributes to aggressiveness and results in more errors and less driving control

                                                             ii.      Stress from driving impacts other areas of functioning such as relationships and employment

                                                            iii.      Constant stress arousal is linked to heart attacks, high blood pressure and higher rates of illness

    1. Personality of aggressive drivers

                                                               i.      Cars are an extension of the drivers personality

                                                             ii.      Accident and violation incurring drivers score much higher in Psychopathic Deviate and Schizophrenic scales of the MMPI and higher in Ego-Defensive and Need-Persistence on the Rosenzweig

                                                            iii.      5 types of drivers, the speeder, the competitor, the passive aggressor, the narcissist, and  the vigilante

                                                           iv.      Neuroticism is associated with inadequate stress coping strategies and may predispose a driver to aggressive driving.

                                                             v.      Depression or anxiety can also affect driver performance, convicted aggressive drivers show a higher than normal rate of Axis I and II psychopathologies

  1. Treatment
    1. 1-day intervention – the goal is to change the driver’s belief system using flash cards and relaxation. Produced some positive results
    2. Relaxation therapy and relaxation with cognitive behavior therapy (“such that faulty assumptions and distorted thoughts (specifically catastrophization, overgeneralization, Black/white thinking, labeling, and personalization) about driving were identified and challenged”). Produced improvement in both groups but little difference between the therapies
    3. Cognitive-behavioral intervention – 4 weeks, small groups, education of the consequences of aggressive driving, motivation techniques, relaxation techniques, and alternative coping strategies training. 64% improvement (even the control group showed improvement on several measures of psychological distress)

 

Conclusion:

            The article provided an interesting overview of the psychology of driving and supplied us with a concise compilation of the small amount of research on the subject of “road rage”. In laying out the reasons to consider “road rage” a problem, the author relied on many years of evidence that suggests that this is not a new phenomenon, but rather a problem that has been overlooked or attributed to other variables. In discussing the personality traits of aggressive drivers as they relate to predictive value, the author took a gamble on an area of psychology that is very controversial. The information was provocative and may provide some predictive value for first-time offending aggressive drivers, but I do not see any evidence that personality can be used to predict all aggressive drivers. I was a little disappointed with the analysis of the treatment, it seemed that the first two treatments were down played in order to highlight the authors own treatment.   

 

Links:

http://www.bts.gov BTS USDOT, 1998. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS): U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) (1998). Transportation Statistics Annual Report 1998 (pp. 77–106)A transportation safety report from 1998. It provides a perspective on recent crashes, modal profiles, and causes of crashes and accidents. It also provides much statistical data on who, what, where, when, and how accidents happen.

 

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20030218-000006.html

The Solution to Road Rage? Find compassion. This article claims to stop road rage with the same treatment for domestic abusers and that the treatment for domestic abuse makes driving the streets safer for all. It is similar to what was found in the original article.

 

http://www.apa.org/books/4317088c.pdf

A review of Tara E. Galovski, Loretta S. Malta, and Edward B. Blanchard’s book, Road Rage: When Drivers Lose It. This is a book about the clinical assessment and treatment of the driver who regularly experiences extreme anger and explosive outbursts while driving.

 

My Home page:

www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409as2006/yourfolder/lastname-outline1.htm