PSY 409A Driving Psychology,  February 12, 2006

The Gender Effect and Driving Impaired

By: Melanie Baldueza

 

Leon James and Diane Nahl (2000). Road Rage and Aggressive Driving: Steering

Clear of Highway Warfare. ( Amherst, N.Y.:Prometheus Books) Pages 57-66.

 

Instructions for this outline:

www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy24/g24-oral1.htm 

 

I.                    The Gender Effect

a.       Men and women have different and similar behaviors

                                                               i.      Men

1.       Men have a tendency to feel negative emotions behind the wheel compared to women

a.       Rage

b.       Impatience

c.       Danger

d.       Violence

e.       Competition

                                                             ii.      Women

1.       Women have a tendency to feel compassion toward other drivers

2.       Have positive emotions while driving

b.       Emotional differences between the two genders carry over to specific aggressive driving tendencies

                                                               i.      Men are more aggressive drivers compared to women

                                                             ii.      Women are becoming more aggressive drivers

1.       This is because the number of women in the workplace is increasing. 

2.       There are more women driving and they are getting stuck in traffic, and experiencing the same stress and frustration men do. 

II.                 Driving Impaired

a.       Impaired driving is caused by physiological and emotional factors that can lead to aggressive driving or road rage

                                                               i.      Physical Impairment

1.       Use of prescription or illegal drugs

a.       The labels of prescription drugs warn the person taking the medication about its side effects and inform them not to operate heavy machinery.

                                                                                                                                       i.      They ignore this warning and drive anyway

b.       Think they are able to operate their car after taking their medication, because they don’t think about it, or they have no choice

c.       Estimated 15,000 people die every year in accidents caused by impaired drivers.

d.       Drug-impaired drivers aggravates and causes and adds to other driving problems

                                                                                                                                       i.      Road rage

                                                                                                                                     ii.      Aggressive driving

                                                                                                                                    iii.      Driving while sleepy

2.       Use of Alcohol

a.       Alcohol in your system causes slow motor movement and affects your visual acuity. 

b.       Alcohol in your brain affects normal thinking

c.       Warning signs are ignored and mistakes are made which leads to accidents

d.       Alcohol leads to unpredictable behavior and the driver becomes a danger to all on the road

                                                             ii.      Emotional Impairment

1.       Difficult to manage because it comes out of nowhere without warning.

2.       Characterized by an unwillingness to use emotional self control because of fear, fun, vengeance, prejudice, or disrespect

3.       Health professionals think the increase of driving pugnacity is caused by stressful social factor such as road congestion, workplace downsizing and others.

4.       Stress

a.       Stress mixes physical and emotional factors that can impair a person’s driving

b.       People with longer commute times reports having more stress

c.       Traffic and other factors on the road can effect mood, health, work, and life satisfaction

 

Related Links:

 

  1. http://www.sirc.org/publik/driving.pdf - Sex differences in driving and insurance risk

I chose this website because it talks about sex differences in aggression and their driving behaviors.  It also talks about the difference traffic violations that each gender does and does not do. 

 

  1. http://www.candid.org/ - Candid is an acronym that stands for Citizens AgaiNst Drug Impaired Drivers

I chose this website because this website is dedicated in reducing car crashes because of drivers being impaired by drugs.  This website informs us what the driver feels when they are on prescription medication or if they are using illegal drugs such as ecstasy.

 

  1. www.1adsi.com/article_stress.htm - Stress and Driving Tactics

I chose this website because it talks about how stress can affect a person’s driving.  It also talks about what the person can do to cope with stress.

 

 

My Home Page: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409as2006/baldueza/baldueza-home.htm

 

G24 Class Home Page: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy24/classhome-g24.htm