Psychology 409a – Driving Psychology, April, 17, 2006

“A Drive to Change”

By Ruo Xie

Scott, Michelle K. “The Phenomenon of Road Rage: Complexities, Discrepancies and Opportunities for CR Analysis”. The Online Journal of Peace and Conflict Resolution. Issue 3.3. Fall 2000 (Ref  10).

Instructions for this assignment:

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

Instructor: Dr. Leon James

• Contents of Paper:

1. Road Rage stories
2. Challenge #1: Defining Road Rage
3. Challenge #2: Quantifying Road Rage
4. Challenge #3: Identifying the causes for Road Rage
5. Challenge #4: Institutional, Therapeutic, and Individual Attempts to End Road Rage
6. From Identity to Escalation: Explaining the stages in “classic” Road Rage
7. Northrup’s four stages of conflict – From Identity to Escaltion:

• Road Rage Stories can be found by clicking Here

• Challenge #1: Defining Road Rage:

• Ontario police define road rage as "random acts of violence or aggressive behavior carried out by frustrated or over-stressed drivers"

• Dr. Arnold Nerenberg defines road rage as, "When one driver lets another driver know that he or she is angry because of something the other driver did. In expressing that anger, the driver might make obscene gestures, scream, honk, put on the brakes, cut in front or brandish a weapon. Or even use the weapon"

• Dr. Ricardo Martinez, head of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) defines aggressive drivers as "individuals who are more likely to speed, tailgate, fail to yield, weave in and out of traffic, pass on the right, make improper and unsafe lane changes, run stop signs and red lights, make hand and facial gestures, scream, honk, flash their lights, be impaired by alcohol or drugs, drive unbelted or take other unsafe actions"

• Daniel B. Rathbone and Jorg C. Huckabee (1999) define road rage as when "an angry or impatient motorist or passenger intentionally injures or kills another motorist, passenger, or pedestrian, or attempts or threatens to injure or kill another motorist, passenger or pedestrian"

• Dr. Leon James, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Hawaii and renowned expert on the topic of road rage, stated that his research "confirmed that, to some degree, nearly every driver has feelings of rage and thoughts of retaliation"

• Chanllenge #2: Quantifying Road Rage:
• Claiming Road Rags as a riding problem depends on whether:

1. researchers will give it scholarly attention
2. foundations will provide financial incentives to support further investigation
3. institutionalized programs will be designed to address it

• Challenge #3: Identifying the causes for Road Rage:
• Officials and other experts are grasping for answers to understand what provokes the phenomenon of the wide diversity of probable causes for road rage.
• The list of probable causes include:
• Increased congestion on roadways; a report by U.S. News and World Report (June 2, 1997) indicates that between 1970 and 1987 the number of cars on the road more than doubled;
• Increased levels of intrapersonal and interpersonal stress, including stress associated with employment, two-career families, familial relationships, child-care issues, elder-care issues, and fundamental economic and technological changes in society;
• Listening to loud, thumping music on the car radio while driving;
• The need to "save face" and overcome feelings of being disrespected by another driver;
• The need to assert one's identity and maintain control in a situation where one fears losing control;
• An overriding cultural focus on "time" as a limited resource, including concerns about "saving time," "using time wisely," "being on time," and "time being money";
• An overriding human need for "space," which causes some drivers to become territorial and guard against another driver's infringement on their space;
• The summer heat;
• A breakdown in manners;
• Popular culture's focus on machismo and masculinity;
• Increased immigration trends leading to a mixture of different driving styles;
• A widespread increase in interpersonal violence, including murder, domestic abuse, and street crime;
• An overriding focus on individualism that produces a "me first" mentality;
• Oppressive social conditions that produce feelings of alienation in individuals;
• Slow drivers;
• Defensive driving habits that produce an inflated sense of concern about the poor driving skills of others;
• A pervasively lower emotional intelligence and moral character than exhibited in past societies;
• An innate human drive to aggression;
• Decreased drivers education in schools;
• Reduced levels of traffic enforcement;
• An ignorance about the "rules of the road";
• Dehumanization of the other;
• An attempt to attain power in an otherwise powerless existence;
• Increased commuting distances and durations;
• Fewer people relying on mass transit and more relying on cars;
• An increased sense of invincibility behind the wheel of a 3,000-pound vehicle;
• A cultural propensity to promote and reward behavior that is competitive, tenacious, and aggressive; and
• An individual propensity to perceive one's vehicle as an extension of oneself.

• Challenge #4: Institutional, Therapeutic, and Individual Attempts to End Road Rage:
• There are countless tactics designed to bring an end to the road rage phenomenon, which include:
• Education programs: driver education programs to teach the rules of the road, public education campaigns to publicize the hazards of road rage, and motorist education programs to teach motorists the best ways to respond during incidents of road rage;
• Therapeutic programs, including anger management, stress management, and behavior modification workshops;
• Intelligent transportation systems, including enhanced photo radar and speed detection devices; and
• More vigorous law enforcement, including an increased police presence on the roads and stiffer penalties for persons convicted of aggressive driving and driving "too slowly" in the left lane.

• Northrup’s four stages of conflict – From Identity to Escaltion:

o Stage 1: Threat

o Stage 2: Distortion

o Stage 3: Rigidification

o Stage 4: Collusion

Links:

http://www.43things.com/things/view/183143

This is a really cool site. If you’re tired of reading studies and research then this site is for you. Regular people give stories and reason on why it is better not to speed and break road regulations and laws.

http://www.buyradardetectors.com/Articles/Avoiding-A-Speeding-Ticket.aspx

This is a great article that helps illustrate how useless it is to speed. It also explains how pointless speeding tickets are avoidable and bothersome.

http://www.graduateddriverlicensing.com/

As long as we are the subject of bad driving habits that lead to risky behavior and speeding, I thought I might include this site, “National Driver Training.” For all of you that always get honked at and get moving violation tickets, here you go! Knock yourself out.

My Homepage:

www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409as2006/xie/xie-home.htm

Class Homepage:

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