Outline Seven of My Required Weekly Outlines (Not Oral)

Classifying Types of Road Rage in the Road Rage Spectrum

This is a presentation of Drivers Behaving Badly and Anger

Dr. Leon James and Dr. Diane Nahl; Published by Prometheus Books, 2000, pg. 46-57

By: Julia Mae Geraghty

 

Instructions for this oral presentation are found at:

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

 

I.                    Drivers Behaving Badly On TV

a.       “Culture Tantrum”

                                                               i.      Why? MEDIA! Television has boomed in the past decades and it teaches individuals that aggressive behavior (even behavior that harms others) is acceptable and a norm in today’s society

                                                             ii.      No research that proves that television is the cause or it promotes aggressive driving; however it seems like there may be a correlation.

b.      Opinion

                                                               i.      I think many people do not realize how much television affects our everyday life, let alone how much television we really do watch in a given day.

                                                             ii.      Because television is a relatively new form of media, I believe that research will soon prove some stronger correlation between aggressive behavior and media.

c.       Example

                                                               i.      Movie examples: Up the River Without a Paddle, Fast and the Furious, Gone in 60 Seconds, Clueless,

                                                             ii.      Television: Extreme sports, Pimp My Ride, The Simpson’s

II.                 Player’s Behaving Badly

a.       Nintendo, computer, PlayStation, etc…

                                                               i.      The rise of these popular forms of entertainment, have not only allowed more aggression to be played on the television screen, but it has also allowed children, teens, and adults to interact and cause this aggression.

b.      Opinion

                                                               i.      While I think it is a good idea to have ratings on video games, I am not sure how often parents and video game retailers enforce these.

                                                             ii.      Some go too far, but there are other ways to be exposed to violence also.

c.       Example

                                                               i.      Carmageddon

                                                             ii.      Grand Theft Auto (Killing women; not just road rage)

III.               Why Driving Arouses Anger

a.       Driving is a very dangerous process. There are so many little things that can go wrong that can turn the small incident turn into a large dangerous one. This anxiety from driving can easily be transformed into anger.

b.      Opinion

                                                               i.      I think that anger is easier to deal with than anxiety because you can blame the source of your uncomfortably on someone or something else.

c.       Example

                                                               i.      Easier to realize that you are nervous while driving than just blaming the cause of a near accident on the “idiot who cannot drive” in front of your car.

 

My Home Page:

 

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409as2005/geraghty/homepage.htm

 

Helpful Links:

 

http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojroadrage/101901_ctv.html

 

http://animatedtv.about.com/cs/merchandise/gr/siroadrage.htm

 

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050419/ap_en_re/games_m_rated_1