Report 2
My Driving Personality
Makeover Project
by Jenny Arakaki
1. Preface
In report 1, we just touch on what driving psychology
is and how we can improve ourselves as individual drivers, passengers or even
as a stander by. Overall driving
psychology is a course on how to manage your thoughts and emotions while
driving on the road. This process is lifelong and needs to be taught to every
individual, young or old, whether they drive or don‘t drive. Driving psychology
can also make the individual more aware of their habits or tendencies while
driving on the road and help to improve and eliminate the habits that may lead
to aggressive behaviors. Driving psychology also allows you to think of your
actions and try to exhibit proper behavior when dealing with the various
situations.
We also establish the definition of road rage and how
it affects millions of people in our nation due to traffic accidents or that we
all are drivers or passengers in some type of transportation vehicle.
Report 1 also deals with becoming a better
driver. It is trying to change our
personality or thoughts and styles of driving and help us make better decisions
or judgments in each scenario we encounter.
Students in this course are learning the basics of driving within your
mind. We need to understand the
psychological mechanics of driving and apply it not only to our driving skills
but to our everyday lives. Overall,
driving psychology has made me more aware of the consequences of aggressive
driving behavior. We were able to
construct an autobiography on our driving techniques and see what types of
influences are around us that may help to explain why we drive the way we
do. We are more susceptible to
understand the way we drive if we try to follow the ideas given in the
book. We all need to improve ourselves
one way or another, especially in our driving behaviors.
The three basic aspects of our personality that we
first learn is cognitive, affective or sensorimotor
self, also known as the threefold self.
My affective self helps us to realize errors we are doing. It is our feelings, emotions and
attitudes. Our Cognitive self helps us
to deduce information objectively rather than subjectively by our thoughts, judgement and knowledge.
The sensorimotor self helps us to rationalize
our thinking and change our attitudes rather than being aggressive on the
road. It’s more of the driver’s vision,
motor reactions and stress. (p.196, Dr.
James & Dr. Nahl, Road Rage and Aggressive
Driving)
For more on Report 1, click here.
My objective in Report 2 is to create a model or
experiment to get rid of the bad habits I present while driving on the road by
creating a driver personality makeover.
I will take various measurements of the aggressive driving signs I show
and record the data and put it in a table.
This way, I can see my faults and try to modify those particular
habits. After about a week’s worth of
data and recording my activity, I will use the checklists from our textbook and
try to modify my specific aggressive driving behaviors. I will then again take another measurement of
all the different aggressive behavior I show and record it in another
table. I will break the experiment down
into two parts. One for my morning drive
and one for my afternoon drive. I feel
that they are different and should kept separate when writing down my
data. Overall this report will help to
improve myself as a driver and a passenger.
It will also help me reduce my aggressive actions and try to make me a
supportive driver with emotional intelligence.
A supportive driver is someone who accommodates their
style of driving adjusting their thinking on the roads. They steer clear of the emotional entrapments
of the road rage mentality. A supportive
driver recognizes and accepts a wide array of drivers and is adaptive to their
needs and level of driving skills.
2. Introduction: Objective Self-assessment
Checklist: Aggressive Thoughts and Feelings (p.65,
text)
This checklist helps to
identify aggressive feelings and thoughts that are part of a road rage
habit. The items are based on
self-witnessing tapes of drivers in traffic and cover three common areas:
fantasies of retaliation and revenge, high-pressure driving and competition,
impulsiveness and reckless driving.
Driving area 1: Fantasies of
Retaliation and Revenge
This section of the checklist
consisted of twelve questions, I checked yes to seven of them. That is over fifty percent I said yes to the
statements. Those statements identify me
as having aggressive feelings even though they may be in fantasy. I would never commit any of these crimes in
reality. It still represents that I have
road rage in me. A solution to this
problem might be to think that I have to share the road with everyone. I cannot think that I am the only one going
to my destination. Everyone has the same
right and needs to get where they are going.
I also need to realize that maybe I might get carried away and my
fantasy thoughts may become a reality and I definitely don’t want that to
happen.
Driving area 2:
High-pressure Driving and Competition
1. When
a car gets in my way I don’t like it and I try to get around it even if it
means taking some risks.
2. In
heavy traffic I feel a constant desire to weave across lanes, trying to get
ahead.
3. I’m
a “gap closer” and I make sure no one enters my lane in front of me.
4. I
don’t have respect for drivers who forget to turn their blinkers on or off.
This section consisted of
seven questions and I answered yes to four of them. That is also more than fifty percent which
tells me that I feel that driving is a competition and am
willing to put other people and myself at risk.
I exhibit road rage and aggressive behavior while driving. I hardly let anyone in the lane because they
are wrong. When I am waiting in the
right lane to get to an on-ramp and I see someone cut me off in front because
they left a gap, I get angry, thinking I could that many cars ahead. I always feel that I have to close the gap
since the other driver is wrong. I know
that mentality will get me into trouble since I
showing aggressive behavior. A solution
to this problem could be to think that we all have to share the roads with one
another and show some aloha spirit when another car wants to come into my
lane. I shouldn’t automatically assume that
they are trying to get ahead of the people waiting,
they might have not know which exit to take.
Driving area 3: Impulsive
and Reckless Driving
1. When
I’m tired I become less alert, but I still need to drive. I have no choice.
This section shows that I
may talk or seem aggressive but I do not act on my impulses. I don’t enjoy causing reckless driving to
myself or others.
Out of all twenty-seven
questions, I answered yes to twelve. I
think if you answered at least one, it shows that you may have some aggressive
tendencies and if you don’t try and improve yourself right away, it might be
hard to stop yourself from becoming more of an aggressive driver.
Checklist: Are you a scofflaw? (p.106,
text)
Check each statement that
you agree with.
1. There are too many traffic light and stop
signs.
2. I feel that a yield sign is an iffy thing.
3. I think all highways and streets would be safer
without speed limits of any kind.
4. It’s always safer to drive over the speed
limit than under, because if you drive under the speed limit, other
drivers
get annoyed at you and they start creating hazardous conditions as they try to
pass you.
5. Ideally I don’t want to break the speed limit
or switch lanes without signaling, but I feel forced to go the same
speed as
everyone else. What else can I do?
6. Often it’s too much trouble to signal a lane
change.
In this checklist, there were
a total of ten statements. I checked six
out of the ten that I agreed with and I think that proves that I am a
scofflaw. I think if you check off just
two, you are scofflaw. It shows that I
tend to break rules made by the state and don’t agree with them. I often find myself questioning the police authority
since I often find them breaking the rules also. I know to handle that type of thinking is to
say that the police disobey the rules because they have an emergency to tend to
but they don’t feel it’s necessary to put their lights or sirens on. Overall, since I checked off sixty percent of
the questions, I feel that is just cause to tell me that I need to start my
self-modification program as soon as possible to get rid of my bad habits.
Checklist: Identifying your irrational driving rules. (p.150,
text)
1. I
must make all the lights.
2. I
mustn’t brake unless absolutely necessary.
3. I
must strive to get ahead of everyone.
4. If
someone passes me, I’m probably going too slow.
5. If
I don’t see any other cars around, I don’t have to signal.
6. It’s
always better to make a light than to stop.
In this checklist, I
answered yes to six of the ten statements, which is sixty percent. I can conclude that I have irrational driving
rules on the road which is not logical.
We are all vulnerable to the unexamined rules in our heads. These irrational rules add to our stress
which can show that we are unaware of these assumptions affecting our thoughts,
feelings and actions. These statements
show that when it comes to driving we make unnecessary rules that could injure
ourselves or other people on the road. This mentality, if you really think about it
is silly, though many of us think this way anyway. We need to devise solutions to teach
ourselves that this is irrational thinking and only helps to justify when we
make a mistake on the road. But what we
don’t realize is that all these statements constitute aggressive driving
behavior.
3. My Driver Self-modification Attempt
(a) Design of my experiment
The scenario: I decided to record my data
on the weekdays since that is when I drive the most. Plus I have noticed that much of my
aggressive thoughts and behaviors are expressed during traffic hour. That is pretty much the only time I am
driving, is through peak hours. To get a
better idea of me and what I drive, I’ll give you some specifics. I drive a 1999 Nissan Sentra,
which is known to be more of a family car and not a racing car. The route I drive is Monday through Friday’s
Kailua to University of Hawaii. I use
the Pali Highway everyday and
leave my house between 6:50 to 7:00 am to get to school by 8:00 am. It usually takes me forty-five minutes to an
hour to get to school. Coming home, I
leave around 4:00 pm from UH and don’t get home until 4:45 to 5:00 pm. So basically both ways, take me around
forty-five minutes to an hour, depending on traffic, what day it is and the
weather.
My experiment: I tape recorded myself
while driving in the car to get the most accurate results. The tape recorder was a good method to use
because I could play back my thoughts and emotions as many times as possible to
get a complete analysis of my behavior.
I also had passengers in the car when I drove, my brother and his
friend. My brother usually slept in the
car and his friend didn’t have a license to drive, so I always was the
driver. Since I had passengers in the
car, I also had them take notes on my behavior while driving. This way I had more data to include in my
report and some observations from the passengers, a tape recorder wouldn’t be
to record. Plus, it also provided hard
evidence of my behavior so I can hear first hand what I am saying and try to
understand why I acted the way I did.
My solution to my many problems was to
invent explanations or reasons why the person was speeding past me or lane
hopping or frustrating me. Calm yourself
and try to exhibit non-aggressive thoughts and reactions. I tried to think of various reasons the other
driver was demonstrating aggressive behavior.
I said they might have had an emergency and needed to get to their
destination as fast as possible, not realizing they were causing havoc on other
drivers. I tried to think that these
drivers didn’t understand the meaning of ‘aloha’ or courtesy to others and they
will learn one day, but not today. I
made up various excuses and it not only relieved some anger but it also
distracted me from getting angry. I
actually paid more attention to devising reasons behind their bad driving and I
didn’t have time to react aggressive or swear at them. This solution was tried by Michelle
Alonzo in a previous generation and I thought it was a good start to change
my behavior.
Also another solution I was going to try was the method
used by a student in a previous generation.
His name was Abe Cabuag. His
modification program included rewarding his passenger with money every time he
failed to display proper behavior on the road.
This way it was a punishment that he would understand not to show
aggressive behavior. I used his
experiment and did the same with my passengers.
It was an exchange for them helping me and that way they could get something
out of it rather than it only being for me.
I paid them ten cents total for each aggressive act but not twenty-five
cents, since it seemed a lot. Plus, I
wasn’t sure on how much aggressive actions I would display, therefore it could
be very costly to me.
First of all,
the definitions of terms used in my experiment.
Hopping is lane hopping and is
defined when the driver is constantly weaving in and out of lanes to avoid
getting stuck in traffic. The driver
keeps putting other drivers and him or herself in danger. Lane hopping can also include not putting on
your signals when switching lanes.
Tailgating in my case is not me staying
close to the driver in front of me but someone staying close behind me. In that aspect, people who tailgate me, I end
up slowing down, purposely, to remind
them they are too close to my car.
Swearing is self-explanatory, but it
could also mean uttering words or phrase that may not include cuss words,
mainly to vent my anger.
Wishing is my term used to describe
when I have evil thoughts in my mind of things I would want to do to another
driver that isn’t followed through with.
These thoughts come into my mind when another driver angers me. I forced myself to think those thoughts out
loud so that it would be recorded and I could see how many bad thoughts I
encountered. I did not actually do any
of these actions but the ideas were there and therefore exhibited aggressive
behavior. Some examples would include:
running over another car with my car or banging my car into another person.
Yielding is when I fail to yield at
yield signs and fail to come to complete stops at the stop signs or red
lights. Also, it can include running the
yellow lights at an intersection.
Counting is when I count the cars
that pass me when I am in traffic. I
count every car to keep track if I am beating the traffic or if the other cars
are beating me. It can also include me
keeping track of the car I was behind of and cutting into another lane and
seeing if that car catches up to me, reassuring me that I’m still going faster.
Speeding is when I exceed the speed
limit over 5 mph or more. For example if
the speed limit is 45 mph and I am going 50 mph, that would be considered
speeding. If that were the real case, I
probably would’ve been going 55 mph or more.
(b) Data Tables
Data table 1
and Graph 1 was establishing my baseline or average of
aggressive acts I displayed while driving in the mornings to school.
|
Data 1 |
Hopping |
Tailgating |
Swearing |
Wishing |
Yielding |
Counting |
Speeding |
|
Day 1
(am) |
3 |
1 |
6 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
|
Day 2
(am) |
4 |
0 |
7 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
Day 3
(am) |
3 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
|
Day 4
(am) |
4 |
2 |
8 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
|
Day 5
(am) |
4 |
1 |
9 |
1 |
5 |
3 |
5 |
|
|
|
Number of
Times |
|
|
|
|
|
I had to pay a total of ten
dollars to my brother and his friend for the week. If you add up all the violations I
demonstrated, it came out to one-hundred.
If you multiply that number by ten cents each, you get ten dollars. That is a lot of aggressive behavior. I do not want to pay that much anymore.
Data table 2
and graph 2 showed me establishing a baseline for the afternoon on my way home
from school.
|
Data 2 |
Hopping |
Tailgating |
Swearing |
Wishing |
Yielding |
Counting |
Speeding |
|
Day 1
(pm) |
4 |
2 |
5 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
|
Day 2
(pm) |
4 |
1 |
8 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
|
Day 3
(pm) |
5 |
2 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Day 4
(pm) |
4 |
0 |
9 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
|
Day 5
(pm) |
6 |
3 |
11 |
4 |
6 |
1 |
6 |
|
|
|
Number of
times |
|
|
|
|
|
In the afternoon, I had more
aggressive acts, which cost me a lot more money. I seem to be very easily agitated when the
afternoon comes around since the number of ‘violations’ totaled one-hundred
twenty-two. That comes out to twelve
dollars and twenty cents. Boy was my
brother and his friend happy. Total I
had to really pay for my bad habits and aggressive driving techniques.
Data table 3
and graph 3 was my intervention statistics for the morning drive to
school. I tried to reduce the number of
times I showed any of these aggressive acts by paying my passengers and
thinking of various explanations for those drivers who usually upset me.
|
Data 3 |
Hopping |
Tailgating |
Swearing |
Wishing |
Yielding |
Counting |
Speeding |
|
Day 6
(am) |
2 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
Day 7
(am) |
2 |
1 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
|
Day 8
(am) |
1 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
|
Day 9
(am) |
2 |
0 |
6 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
|
Day 10
(am) |
3 |
1 |
8 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
4 |
|
|
|
Number of
times |
|
|
|
|
|
