PSY 409A January 25, 2007
Outline of RR pages 15-32 and Lecture Notes Table 4
Cynthia Crabtree
Instructions for this activity are found at: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy26/g26-oral1.htm
Instructor: Dr. Leon James
Leon James and Diane Nahl
(2000). Road Rage and Aggressive Driving: Steering Clear of Highway Warfare. (
Road Rage
Intro. Due to Dr. Leon James aggressive driving behavior, his wife and mother were subjected to a frightful cycle of bad driving, upon the prompting of Dr. James family, he and his wife wrote a book to deal with the problems of aggressive driviers.
Chapter 1: Age of Rage
Road Rage and Aggressive Driving
1. Road Rage
a. Introduced to public by media.
b. Phrase refers to a state of anger that leads to aggressive behaviors
2. Aggressive Driving
a. Reckless driving behaviors
b. Aggressive drivers feel justified in dominating others
c. Aggressive drivers impose their will on others who are in their way.
A Worldwide Phenomenon
1. 1. Research findings
at the
a. 64% of participants said that motorist’s behavior has changed for the worst.
b.
When asked what types of aggressive driving behaviors they experienced
within the last year:
62% named aggressive tailgating
59% percent has lights flashed at them
48% received rude gestures
21% were blocked from making a maneuver
When asked about their own aggressive behavior:
-45% admit to flashing their own lights when annoyed
-22% admit to making rude gestures
-6% admit to aggressive tailgating
-5% admit to purposely blocking others from making a maneuver
-Men report about 10% more highway abuse than women
- 76% of drivers under 35 admit to aggressive driving behaviors, whereas only 34% of drivers over 54 admit to aggressive driving behaviors.
Evidence of aggressive driving in many different areas, such as India, Thailand, Greece, Reuters, Phillippines, etc.
Facing the Culture of Disrespect
Road Rage involves two symptoms
A feeling of rage with mental violence
The desire to punish and retaliate
How culture relates to aggressive behaviors
Sharon Rodine believes that societies and cultures set the acceptance level of violence by either supporting aggressive behaviors or by opposing them.
Learning to become an aggressive driver
Learning takes place when we are children. Watching others enjoy aggressive driving and escaping unpunished only reinforces our aggressiveness.
Human motives for aggression
- Greed, hate, anger, revenge, need for status, thrill seeking, need for power, etc.
Becoming accustomed to aggressive driving
- The many little instances of aggressive driving are quickly forgotten. But being repeatedly exposed to these instances of aggressive driving, and getting away unpunished, only reinforces later aggressive driving behaviors.
Long-lasting effects of aggressive driving
- Negative experiences behind the wheel influence the rest of your day.
-Research in the
- Aggressive driving is passed from generation to generation based on modeling.
Step 1: Acknowledging that you have a particular negative habit
-Before you begin your car trip, say the problem to yourself. I.E. “I have a problem yelling at people who cut me off.”
Step 2: Witnessing yourself perform this negative habit.
-You must be very attentive of your emotions so you can detect the presence of your hostile feelings.
Step 3: Modifying this habit
-After you detect your hostile feeling, you must force yourself to disagree and to regret feeling that way. Doing this will help weaken your habit of expressing that specific hostile feeling.
-First: Driving is a process that involves many behaviors that act together and is influenced by cultural norms.
-Second: Driving norms can be broken down into three domains: Affective, cognitive, and sensorimotor
-Third: Driving norms are passed through parents, media, adults, etc…
-Fourth: Affective driving norms: Negative, anti-social, and non-cooperative driving
Valuing dominance, competition, etc…
Believe in retribution
We accept our own aggressiveness
-Fifth: Cognitive driving norms: Bad risk management and regulation of own emotional behavior
Biased thinking
Poor risk assessment
Lack of EI
Low moral development
-Sixth: Sensorimotor driving norms: Immature and incompetent driving habits Automatized and mechanical habits
Perceptive errors
Poor concentration due to fatigue, distractions, drugs, boredom, etc…
-Seventh: All bad driving habits in each of the three domains can be changed to positive habits.
-Eighth: Drivers will show a lot of resistance to change, but this resistance can be conquered by the use of QDCs (quality driving circles). QDCs are powerful influencing agents that can rid of any resistance.
-Ninth: The driver is unable to objectively assess his or her own driving until given proper training. This is because much of our driving is automatic.
-Tenth: Drivers must be trained in risk taking and in techniques for staying calm in emergencies or provocations.
-Eleventh: Driving environments are always evolving and new skills are always there to learn. Therefore, driver training must become a lifelong process.
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