Outline of My Seventh Oral Presentation

The Different Faces of Road Rage This is a presentation of Road Rage and Aggressive Driving: Steering Clear of Highway Warfare, By: Dr. Leon James and Dr. Diane Nahl, Prometheus Books, March 9, 2005, Pages 111-119, Dr.Driving.org.

By: Amy Beeler

Instructions for this oral presentation are found at:

www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy22/g22-oral.htm

I. Inner Power Tools

A. Angry aggression inevitably accelerates quickly into impulsive, and sometimes violent, action.

B. Acceleration effect becomes clear by listing aggressive acts in order of severity:

1. Degenerating thoughts about the other

2. Verbal abuse (including offensive gestures & harsh facial expressions)

3. Grabbing

4. Shaking

5. Shoving

6. Slapping

7. Scratching and Biting

8. Punching

9. Choking

10. Battering and Stabbing

11. Strangling and Shooting

II. Overcoming emotional hijacking

A. Emotional explosions are literally “neutral hijackings” because intense feelings are accompanied by detectable neutral discharges in the brain (or the amygdala).

B. Six Components of emotional intelligence that can be learned wit appropriate practice:

1. How to re-appraise a situation and look for alternate explanations

2. How to self-regulate negative mood shifts

3. How to empathize with the “other side”

4. How to persist in a plan despite distracting frustrations

5. How to control or neutralize one’s aggressive impulses

6. How to think with positive outcomes

C. Emotional intelligence provides you with an understanding of how anger escalates and how to deflate it.

III. 3 Levels of Emotional Intelligence

A. Oppositional Driving- our feelings are oppositional & negative, therefore unfit to handle Road Rage.

B. Defensive Driving- teaches motorists to concentrate on safety of vehicle driver to passengers.

C. Supportive Driving- Encourages us to be prudent & safe as well as tolerant & friendly by focusing on the enjoyment of driving & being unfazed by its hassles.

Helpful Links:

smartdriver.co.nz/Articles/Emotional Intelligence.htm

www.drdriving.org/facts/topics.htm

www.essisystems.com/assessments/eqmap_index.php3

My Home Page: