Driving Psychology 409a December 4, 2006

Student Reports on Driving Personality Makeovers

By Rhiannon Tokita

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

Instructor: Dr. Leon James

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s99/nakasone/report1.html By Jayson Nakasone

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459f98/telles/report1telles.html By Dustin Telles

Concept 1- Driving Norms by Jayson Nakasone

I. Driving Norms

a. Definition- when driving, you do what everyone else is doing

i. For example: people tend to drive between 10 to 15 mph over the speed limit. It should be considered a norm because it is what the majority of people are doing

ii. Another example: the left lane is the driving norm for faster traffic and the right lane is the driving norm for slower traffic.

b. Boyfriend’s Response

i. The definition of the driving norm makes sense to him. He says that it is the kind of experience he has had on the road. He developed this style of driving because his parents always told him that the faster drivers drive in the left lane and the slower drivers drive in the right lane. There is a logic to slower drivers driving in the right lane because the freeway off ramps are on the right side of the freeway and therefore the cars in that lane will naturally be going slower.

Concept 2- Driving Personality Makeover

II. Driving Personality Makeover by Dustin Telles

a. Definition- the way a person helps themselves to become a more considerate, law-obeying, and non-aggressive driver. The makeover consists of two parts: the self witnessing and behavior modification.

b. Self- Witnessing- drivers need to stay alert and focus on their emotions as they drive in order to detect the presence of hostile feelings

c. Behavior Modification- all the maladaptive procedures need to be interrupted by means of regret that we introject into the event

d. Boyfriend’s Response

i. He questioned whether the driving psychology is about law obeying or being less aggressive and more courteous. He asked if you can be a law abiding citizen, driving under the speed limit in the left lane, and not have people be angry at you? What are you supposed to do when they yell at you?

e. My Response

i. According to the principles of driving psychology, you should stay calm and try to ignore the other driver or move to another lane to get out of his or her way in order to be non-confrontational.

f. Boyfriend’s Response

i. He doesn’t like that because you have to be aware of everyone else’s expectations. You are not only worrying about your courtesies on the road, but how other drivers are perceiving your driving. People get mad at you for being a law abiding citizen.

III. Conclusion

a. I think that my boyfriend showed a good understanding of the concepts that I presented to him. I had shared similar concepts with him before and so I believe he had a good grasp on what was going on. I feel that my teaching of the concepts to him, has helped him to be more aware as a driver as well as causing him to recognize his aggressive behaviors.

b. I feel that by doing this field experiment, I was able to hear an opinion that was different than mine as well as to let me see things from a different perspective. I believe it is always beneficial to view things from a different angle and that you can learn a lot from other people.