Road Rage: It begins with you.
Report 2
Malia Blumhardt,
Sheena Casaquit,
and Jennifer Long
PSY 409a, Spring
2008, Generation 27
Dr. Leon James, Instructor
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy/leon.html
Class Home
Page: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy27/classhome-g27.htm
Lecture Notes
Caution! Venting is not good
for your health
By, Malia
Blumhardt
With
anger, its important to acknowledge it before it gets
out of hand. Dr. James had a great phrase, “ don’t
express it or suppress it, confess it!”
The
problem with expressing anger while driving is that it serves no rational
purpose.
It can only lead to physical, sensorimotor behavior.
Expressing anger may give you a feeling of energy by
increasing your adrenaline, but it can hurt yourself, body, and others.
Suppression
is the result of being afraid to react. As a solution, it can only be
beneficial momentarily. The reason it isn’t an ideal solution is that by not
showing an emotion publicly, it will still bother you. So it’s important to
address the emotion and where its coming from.
This leads us to the appropriate answer of confessing it! Realizing that being
angry is irrational is very important. Your judgment as a driver can get very clouded. By confessing it, you become a better driver
as well as understanding yourself in the long run. You make rational decisions
that won’t endanger yourself or others.
The Mental Health of Drivers
By, Jennifer Long
When
a driver self-evaluates himself or herself, they realize they are in a world of
aggression and agitation. Although one
may lead a rational life, they may turn into road raging maniacs while
driving. People find themselves very
focused in deep thought just trying to “win the race” of driving and/or to
steer clear of other aggressive drivers.
The following is one’s self witnessing report including all the domains
of the three-fold self,
"My
affective behavior is scared, anxious, fearful, panic
stricken, agitated, bothered, irritated, annoyed, angry, mad. I feel like
yelling and hitting. My cognitive behavior is thinking, Oh, no what is he
doing. What's happening. How could he do that. The guy was speeding. My sensorimotor
behavior is that I hear myself saying out loud, S--t! Stupid guy! I'm breathing
fast, gripping the wheel, perspiring, sitting up straight and slightly forward,
my eyes are open and watching straight ahead (Lecture Notes)."
This
shows how both the mind and body are affected during driving. Feelings like these have come to be expected
in everyday driving. Some of these
effects are extreme and short lived, while other feelings continue for a long
period of time. The following are often
mentioned:
Extreme physiological reactions: heart pounding, stopping breathing, muscle
spasms, trembling, nausea, and upset stomach
Extreme emotional reactions:
outbursts of anger, yelling, aggressive gestures, mean looks, and
fantasies of violence
Extreme irrational thought Sequence: paranoia that one is being followed or
inspected, script writing scenarios involving vengeance and cruelty against
“guilty drivers, and denial of reality and defensiveness when a passenger
complains of a driver's error (Lecture Notes)
Some
people may look at these feelings as venting and how they are good for a
person’s health. It releases tension and
anger out of the body. However, these
feelings are not good for a person’s health.
These feelings may cause a person danger and keeps them on-edge for long
periods of time. Physical reactions such
as honking the horn or using obscene gestures also may be bad for a person’s
health. Other drivers may get extreme
rage, which in some cases leads to death.
Driving
Lessons
Chapter 7:
Driving Identities over the Lifespan
By, Sheena Casaquit
Much has been done in an attempt to better improve the human
activity of driving. From research to engineering, the fight is always on to
enhance the safety of drivers. Regardless of how much thought is put into
safety, there will always be consistent concern that there is no end to it,
there will always be more that can be done. In Western culture, driving is a
solo activity therefore; there is a main focus on the individual as the unit of
analysis in terms of traffic safety. Individual driving behavior is often times
difficult to improve because people have a hard time adjusting and conforming
to rules and regulations. A shift in how researchers approach the task of
driving, understanding individual drivers and understanding ways in which the
individual driver can be influenced are essential in all aspects of road safety
interventions.
Two theories that must be considered in relation to this
shift include:
1)
Erikson’s
model on driver identities and the range of psychological and social
forces in the formation and maintenance of personal identity lays the
foundation for driving identity.
2)
Moral
conduct code provides new options for the development of effective
interventions aimed at shifting driver behavior in more positive directions.
Being behind the wheel signifies freedom of individual
choice. In our society drivers are viewed as purely autonomous beings,
responsible for their goals and directions. Being a driver means being a part
of a larger system in the driving world. A driver must not only consider
themselves, but also passengers, other drivers, pedestrians and in due course
society as a whole. All levels must collaborate in order for a journey that is
safe and secure to occur. In sum,
although driving is usually correlated with individuality, a team effort is
essential when it comes to safety and our driving environment.
It is natural to attribute another driver’s behavior to
their personality. Driving
behavior may be understood as identity issues. Depending on what stage in life
a person is, their personality at the time reflects the way they drive.
Erikson
states that identity issues are at play at all points in the lifespan. Young
adults are obsessed with autonomy. Adolescents anticipate the rite of passage
into ‘adulthood’. The elderly struggle with the decision to hang up their keys
and end their driving careers. This crisis identity model involves
psychological drives to identify and establish a logical sense of personal
identity. It not only entails psychological preferences but also social support
and validation of potentially available identity options. Moral implications
come along side the strain between psychological identity desires and social
identity affordances. Certain obligations to fulfill role obligations and rules
must now be considered when one identifies with a certain identity. This could
be understood in terms of an honour code, a
moral code that details which behaviors are to be exhibited in which situations
to maintain status as a member of an identity group. It is a code that provides
a novel and powerful way of understanding the relationship between driver
identities and driver behaviors.
Road Safety for Young
Children
This
stage doesn’t involve much work in the search for identity. Rather children are
concerned with doing things for themselves and later applying this knowledge to
building basic skills and competencies. These activities set the foundation for
identity development in their later years. Parents and teachers have an
opportunity to influence a number of basic safety behaviors in children. We may
benefit by tracing the roots of other safe-driving identities back to the
competency-building years of early and middle childhood.
Young Novice Drivers: Forming
Driving Identities
Young male novice drivers are centered on the identity of
risky behavior. Recognizing this identity can enable us to see the honor code
that promotes certain behavior patterns that this group is involved with. It is
essential to promote the notion that driving is simply just driving and need
not be considered to be a central part of one’s identity.
Middle-Aged Drivers:
Maintaining Identity and Code Expectations
Re-establishing the identity and moral codes and
highlighting the driving-pattern changes is the ideal avenue for driving safety
interventions among adult drivers. Identities during this time period is not
set in stone however, identity is of less obvious concern. Adults are more
focused on day to day life and getting business done rather than worrying about
their identity. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)
is an organization that focuses on lowering the level of implicit social
acceptance of driving while drunk. Without changing any laws they were able to
affirm the immorality or honor code-violating status on driving under the
influence. The Australian Traffic Accident Commission (TAC) was successful in
displaying advertisements that aim to show the relationship between day-to- day activities and showing the socio-moral
consequences of their bad choices.
Driving Cessation among
Elderly Drivers: Integrity versus Despair
This stage involves integrity versus despair. Erikson argues
that the elderly review their identity projects in light of the effects they
have had upon themselves and others. The elderly may feel they need to continue
to drive for practical reasons since the automobile represents an ideally
convenient form of transportation. Putting an end to their driving career or
having one’s license or insurance removed translates to a loss of personal
independence and may have a powerful impact on an older drivers’ identity. An
Alzheimer’s patient can be helped coming to terms with hanging up their keys by
enlisting the driver himself in research to develop a better understanding of
how to help drivers stop driving rather than simply helping them let go.
Road Rage
Chapter 3
By, Sheena Casaquit
In
1996, drivers in the
Emotional
control training is needed to help drivers manage “driver factors” such as
inattention, risk taking, and conflict between highway users. A great deal of
training is offered when faced with tailgaters and gap fillers. However, inner
training is vital when dealing with habits of thinking and ranking the
importance of things. An unpredictable mistake by one driver can easily be
taken as an insult by another. Driver education and defensive driving often
times promotes anticipating of mishaps on the roads and isn’t the most effective
way to solving the escalating problem of aggressive driving. Defensive driving
encourages competitive driving.
Stressful Congestion
Due
to the lack of road available for the rising number of vehicles on the road,
traffic congestion continues to be a universal problem. In the
Regardless
of collisions occurring during traffic congestion, it continues to be a major
source of frustration and anger and at the same time increasing stress.
Top 5 congested cities:
The least congested cities:
A
variety of engineering approaches, including building more road space; slowing
the growth of vehicle volume on the road with bus and carpool lanes and transit
service; staggering the times that vehicles use the road with flex time and
telecommuting techniques; more efficient traffic management with coordinated
signals and incident management; and more land use alternatives that might
reduce the need for vehicle travel indicate a wide range of solutions to
traffic congestion.
Inevitable Unpredictability
Uncertainty
is a factor in driving as with all human endeavors. Uncertainty is inevitable.
As the number of cars increases and people drive for longer periods of time,
this becomes more significant. Drivers become confronted with the many
possibilities of facing unpredictability when traveling far distances and even
more so when dealing with congestion on the road due to the increase in
interaction between other drivers.
Peer Pressure
Constant
and immediate cooperation is needed between strangers when it comes to driving.
This cooperation requires drivers to be sensitive to others in order to predict
their behaviors. Often times drivers face peer
pressure of committing acts against their will in order to protect their image.
Regardless of age, drivers need to be equipped with the inner tools to resist
perceived peer pressure that increases risk and stress. Acquiring emotional
intelligence can diminish the idea that since other people drive crazy, so can
they. It can allow people to take responsibility for their actions and being
open to change rather than simply justifying their bad behaviors. Giving in to peer pressure can result in unwanted citations and fines, so
the safest route is to go with the flow of traffic.
Automotive Vigilantism
In
the
There
is substantial and significant difference between these two groups in driving
style and attitude. Tough-minded drivers confess to styles of aggressive
driving, with an emphasis on younger drivers. Parents who demonstrated
aggressive driving had a large influence on their children as drivers.
3 Levels of intensity in
aggressive driving:
Automotive
vigilantism is the idea that drivers should punish or retaliate against other
aggressive drivers. This delusional logic along with psychological and cultural
dimensions is the root of aggressive driving. Aggression is neither lawful nor
effective.
Trigger Theory of Road Rage
Negative
emotions are difficult to manage no matter what driving expertise a person has.
It is normal to believe that expressing anger is the right way to go because
psychology holds the idea that releasing anger is healthy. Many drivers have a
hard time holding back outburst once the let their emotions get the best of
them. People justify aggression by fabricating an illogical sequence that serve
as an excuse for risky behavior.
Engaging
in aggressive driving behavior is a way of striving for control and imposing
our will on others. As drivers we have the right to oppose aggressiveness
brought on by other drivers rather than making the assumption that the action
of another driver makes us hostile because it triggers our aggressive response.
There is no automatic trigger mechanism between an insult and provocation, and
this proves that people make the choice to retaliate.
We do
not have the ability to change the bad behaviors of other drivers, but they
have the power to create hazardous conditions that provoke us in doing things
that are against our will. Aggression in any form is a way that helps us feel
better about ourselves by releasing negative emotions. It is a mental state of
learned aggressiveness justified by feeling contempt for other drivers.
Articles
By, Sheena Casaquit
Cara Lucey’s Survey
In
generation 10, men and women scored nearly equal on matters on anger. In
generation 7, email discussions about gender and driving indicate biasness in
gender and assume that studies should be genderless. Women were perceived as
sweet but can be aggressive. People with ethnic backgrounds, women, and older
people were seen as not being capable of being aggressive. This idea proves
that woman clearly suffer from stereotypes in society.
Women Truck
Drivers
It
is natural to believe that women suffer from discrimination by driving trucks.
However, results indicate that not much discrimination takes place. In fact,
truck driving is actually the only profession where both men and women are paid
equally. Although many believe that pay is the greatest stress factor,
unforeseen weather conditions and late night shifts prove to be of greater
stress. Truck drivers are required to take courses on how to manage aggressive
behavior on the road. Some negative aspects that come along with this
profession are the need for safer truck stops and stress reduction classes that
account for possible physical problems that may arise on the job. Most drivers
indicate satisfaction with their job however, would not recommend it as a
profession to others.
Exercise 4
By, Malia Blumhardt
a)
The
team’s main goal was to educate the class on how to utilize scenario analysis
and develop their critical thinking in order to become better drivers on the
road.
b)
The
instructions were to study and discuss the analysis of a driving situation
described in the Lecture Notes at: Exercise: Scenario Analysis to Develop Critical
Thinking. They were then to check out DrDriving’s
collection of news stories on road rage at http://drdriving.org/news/index.htm.
After doing so, they were to select one that contained
enough details to do a scenario analysis. After discussing the stories with
their team, they were then to present their scenario to the class. Students
were then asked to comment on their analysis to help further clarify the
analyses. Ultimately, they were to inform the class on how scenario analysis
could be used in driver education.
The team chose three articles to share:
1)“Road-rage driver terrorized
family” by Steve Butcher
2) “Road rage killing leads to 40-year prison term” by David
Doege
3)“Oh My God, I Can’t Believe I
Shot Her” By Alan Sipress
They then took each of the three stories and acknowledged
the driver’s actions that constituted as bad driving. For example with the
first story, the group found thirteen bad driving behaviors. Some of them
included: drinking while driving, driving on the wrong side of the road, and
fishtailing.
From each example of bad driving, the group gave suggestions
as to how the person could have avoided behaving carelessly. For example, by
driving on the wrong side of the road, I could potentially cause a head-on
collision, possibly even endangering others in the process.
In the end, the group came up with three reasons why
scenario analysis could be used in driver education:
1)
It
allows people to analyze their past driving
2)
By
narrowing down road rage stories with scenario analysis, one could prevent
their own bad driving behaviors.
3)
By
reading these stories, people could strengthen their emotional intelligence and
prevent bad driving habits.
c)
The
overall presentation was really good. There were only some areas I felt could
have needed added explanation. For instance, they could have made the stories
more personal by describing how they related to their own lives or how those
stories impacted them as drivers.
d)
The
group was successful in many ways. For one, they followed the exercise
directions to a tee in a clear manner. They also chose stories that grabbed our
attention like “Oh my God, I can’t believe I shot her.” Through scenario analysis, they taught us how
to be critical thinkers and ultimately better drivers.
For me, the stories allow me to realize how a negative
thought can lead to outrageous action. The stories also acknowledge there’s a
huge problem with road rage being faced in the
e)
The
instructions for doing this exercise needed to be more concise. Overall, they
were articulated very well. If I had to change them, I would have been more
specific about how many articles the group should have researched. Possibly, I
would have even had a link to three or four specific articles I felt would have
the most impact.
f)
The
limitation with this type of exercise is repetition. When coming up with
suggestions on how the bad drivers could have “backed out” of each situation, I
felt that it could easily suffice to say, “don’t do it”. An example was drunk
driving. Suggestion on how to avoid it, “don’t do it.”
g)
After
doing the exercise steps, I clearly understood what was required for this
exercise. The stories reveal how critical it’s becoming for drivers to
understand how to regulate their emotions. By reading road rage stories, and
recognizing the challenge behaviors, I think more people would develop a
greater emotional intelligence.
Section
4
1. Road Rage
Statistics: How to Avoid Rage and Stay Safe
http://www.roadandtravel.com/safetyandsecurity/2007/road-rage.htm
This article offers road rage statistics as well as advice on avoiding
aggressive driving and aggressive drivers. For instance, one piece of advice is
“ don’t make obscene gestures. Avoid any visible sign
that you may be angry.”
2. “The
Phenomenon of Road Rage: Complexities, Discrepancies, and Opportunities for CR
Analysis” By, K. Michelle Scott
http://www.trinstitute.org/ojpcr/3_3scott.htm
This article focuses on the author’s research on road rage and its
affects. Scott attempts to define, quantify, explain, and remedy the road rage
phenomenon. She presents a conflict resolution framework for her analysis.
3. The ARC
Network
“Accident
Reconstruction Network”
http://www.accidentreconstruction.com/research/roadrage/index.asp
This website offers advice for diffusing and avoiding road
rage. It also gives links to other
websites that address aggressive driving, as well as the research being done on
it.
4.
Personality factors as predictors of persistent risky driving behavior and
crash involvement among young adults
http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/13/6/376
This is a study that examined the relationship between
personality factors assessed during adolescence and persistent risky driving
behavior and traffic crash involvement among young adults. The main outcome
measures were persistent risky driving behaviors and crash involvement. These results suggest that
road-safety interventions seeking to deter young adult males from persistent
risky driving behavior need to be directed at those who do not endorse
traditional views, are aggressive, and feel alienated from the rest of society.
5. Driving style as a
reflection of cultural personality traits
http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/25975/Driving-Style-as-a-Reflection-of-Cultural-Personality-Traits
I found this to be a great read! This is a journal article
of a woman who speaks her mind on the relationship (if any) on culture and
driving style. She focuses on driving style while comparing styles between the
6. Women truck
drivers
http://infoboulevard.com/articles/other/Women-truck-drivers.txt
Most
people associate the term truck driver with men, but more and more women are
finding this is an enjoyable career choice for them. Some of them are team
drivers with another woman or their spouse. Others enjoy being out on the open
road with their pets or by themselves. This article goes into specific issues
that have been associated with the issues that women face as truck drivers.
7.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18665115/
This
article discusses cities with the most and least road rage, obviously focusing
on
8. Readers Rage on Over
Offenses on the Road
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18681656/
This
article gives personal stories from both those who experience road-rage in the
present, those who have matured and no longer act on road rage, and finally
those who have methods of avoiding road rage. Many people will sing to their radio in order
to alleviate the stress of driving, the most original was the man who carried
bubble wrap along in the car so he could pop the bubbles if he was feeling
angry.
9. Road Rage can Churn the Calmest of Hearts
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18575768/
This
article gives one man’s Jekyll and Hyde story.
Although he worked for the transit system and always encouraged safe
driving, he found him self engulfed in the world of road rage for over
year. After finding his daughter’s toy
gun in the car one day he started “shooting” cars that would cut him off or
interrupt his driving in anyway. He
enjoyed the satisfaction it gave him.
The article finishes up with helpful hints on how to avoid experiencing
road rage.
10. “Road Rage” gets a
Medical Diagnosis
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13152708/
Although
I do not really agree with this article, it talks about how doctors have now
given the medical name of “Intermittent explosive disorder.” It says it is a biological disorder usually
setting in by the time a person is fourteen.
Symptoms include multiple outbursts and other symptoms related with road
rage. It is assumed five to seven
percent of the nationally representative sample experiences this disease.