Psychology 409, November 25, 2006
Driving Psychology 101
by your Lida Atkinson

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

 

The Social Psychology of Driving

www.trinity.edu/mkearl/hwsocpsy.html

 

Introduction:

 

            Driving has become ingrained into the American way of life. This country was founded by adventurous people striking out to explore a new land. Americans seem to have more than their fair share of wander lust and the car was invented in America to satisfy the desires of Americans to move freely from one place to another. Driving is now a part of the American psyche and the rest of the world is not very far behind us in their love of cars. It is a wonder that psychologists have not devoted much effort to examining the psychology of driving. None of my textbooks cover the subject and most colleges do not offer classes such as this class. This article is tries to provide an overview of driving psychology as it relates to other topics in psychology. It uses what we currently know about human psychology to describe thoughts, feelings and behaviors of drivers.  

 

  1. Conformity and deviance
    1. Success is the correct prediction of others behaviors
    2. EQ – emotional intelligence

                                                              i.      The ability of one to predict others behaviors plus the ability to control those behaviors directed at one’s self

    1. Social power and success

                                                              i.      The ability to predict and control one’s own behavior as well as others

    1. Rules of the road assist in prediction
    2. Mechanisms of social control

                                                              i.      internalized moralities: "I never exceed 55 mph because that's not right and because there is an energy crisis;"

                                                            ii.      failure to even consider deviant courses of action: "I have never driven in reverse on an Interstate freeway because the notion never occurred to me;"

                                                          iii.      fear of political sanction: "I better slow down because there's a police car ahead and I cannot afford another speeding ticket;"

                                                           iv.      other-directedness: "Everyone is going faster than me. I guess I can speed up."

  1. You are what you drive: Vehicular presentations of self
    1. Driver death rates for vehicle model years 1994 – 1997 was 89 per million registered vehicle years
    2. Driver deaths broken down by model of vehicle

                                                              i.      20 for Infiniti J30

                                                            ii.      37 for Toyota Camry

                                                          iii.      209 for GeoMetro

                                                           iv.      308 for Chevy Camaro

    1. These numbers reflect vehicle size, safety features and how they are driven

                                                              i.      People attracted to speed buy fast cars and drive fast

  1. Road roles
    1. A driver’s license has become the predominant coming of age ritual
    2. Driving is now part of the social identity

                                                              i.      Driving is no longer about getting from A to B

                                                            ii.      It is a way to gain attention and announce ones impending adulthood

                                                          iii.      It can be used to affirm cultural identity

  1. The "realities" of the road: How society shapes consciousness and decision-making
    1. The field of consciousness of driver is so specialized it become automatic

                                                              i.      Traffic lights and signs

                                                            ii.      Predictability of other drivers

    1. Driving characteristic norms

                                                              i.      Eating while driving

                                                            ii.      Listening to the radio

                                                          iii.      Different lanes of traffic have different norms

1.      The rightmost lanes are for the drivers who do not wish to compete in the higher intensity left lane

                                                           iv.      Decisions can be based on the perception the driver has of others

1.      the driver is old so he his probably going the go slow

2.      the car is a Mercedes and the driver has money and will probably sue if is an accident

                                                             v.      Decisions are also based on the drivers perception of himself

1.      does my car indicate

a.      that I can be trusted

b.      that I take chances

c.      that I am willing to challenge others

d.      that I am stupid

                                                           vi.      collective behavior

1.      truckers on strike might block roads

2.      bad weather produces slower speeds and lights turned on

3.      a few expensive cars going fast may increase the speed norm above the legal limit   

  1. Symbolic interactions
    1. Status
    2. Coming of age
    3. Virility
    4. Independence
  2. Driving and the Life-cycle
    1. Social Solidarities Spawned

                                                              i.      Car clubs

    1. Collective behavior

                                                              i.      M.A.D.D.

                                                            ii.      Highway protests

 

Conclusion:

 

            This article makes the point that driving is relatable to social psychology and that it should be address in modern psychology classes. I described a few of the behaviors that drivers exhibit that fall into place with current social psychology theories. I would have like to see a little more direct comparison to more theories but the article made its point. That being, that all areas of psychology are ignoring a huge portion of the human condition in America. Problems such as “road rage” are starting to emerge and the abnormal psychologists have fallen behind, their ability to predict this issue has been limited by their exclusion of driving behavior. 

 

Links:

 

  http://www.driveandstayalive.com/articles%20and%20topics/psychology%20in%20road%20safety/aa-index_driver-psychology.htm A list of articles and links about driving behavior and its implication.

 

http://www.people.ex.ac.uk/cnwburge/  Cris Burgess, BSc (Hons) MSc PhD,

Applied Social Psychology and Driving Behaviour research. A fresh perspective on driving psychology

 

My Homepage: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409af2006/atkinson/atkinson-home.htm

Class Homepage: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy25/classhome-g25.htm