Driving Psychology: Theory and Application
by: Jesse Chang
1. Preface
This course focuses on the mental and emotional states, as well as the behavioral aspects of drivers in everyday society. This class gives awareness of the problems and characteristics that many drivers face (road rage, aggression, defensive driving, etc.), the worldwide problems that driving produces (accidents, pollution, stress, funding, and even death, etc.), and gives suggestions of how to cope with, manage, or change these problems on an individual scale in hopes that it may promote better driving in the bigger picture. I feel excited about being in this generation so I can continue to advance the study in hopes that the roads will be a safer for everyone.
Being an aggressive driver myself, I occasionally suffer from road rage, so I would like to gain a better awareness of my own thoughts and feelings while driving in order to adjust and improve my behaviors as a driver. I believe that I am a perfect subject in this research as I believe my aggression while driving is somewhat severe. When going over the reports or prior generations, it seems as if I'm not the only one. Most of the prior generations appreciated that idea of obtaining awareness of their own personalities as drivers, and how it was possible to modify their behaviors. Most people get comfortable with their own characteristics as drivers, never really motivated to change or improve their skills. Generation 2 students focused on their own characteristics as drivers, then made a plan to improve their driving skills. In prior generations, students covered such topics as why people speed, how peoples' personality changes when they get behind the wheel, tailgating, driving personality makeovers (by self witnessing), traffic psychology, etc.
Shane Akagi from generation 1 wrote that he believed speeding on the highway occurred for reasons such as the self fulfilling prophecy (drivers think they are expected to drive fast, so they do), mental disorders (such as Schizophrenia, personality disorders, Conduct disorder that impair a person's ability to drive well), impatience (people are always rushing in life), and aggression (differences in amount and expression of aggression between the sexes). I think all of these hypotheses are rationally possible. I can relate to all of them as factors in my aggressive driving. I don't have Schizophrenia :), but I do think that I occasionally suffer from conduct disorder while driving (i.e.. speeding, speeding up for yellow lights, lane hopping). I do agree with the idea of self fulfilling prophecy as a factor. I don't like to hold anyone up, so when everyone is driving fast, so do I. I am very impatient when it comes to driving and aggression is usually the product of my impatience.
Sandra Scarbrough from generation 4 included her opinions and definitions of tailgating which deal with tailgating not only irritating the person getting tailgated, but also the person tailgating. She brought up some personal experiences with tailgating and she quit the habit when a friend got into an accident. She suggested that tailgating be against the law and that tailgaters get ticketed. I totally agree with Sandra. I hate getting tailgated and I never commit the action. I feel very irritated and hostile when I am getting tailgated and I make it known by either speeding up, or going even slower, waiting for the car to try to overtake me, then speeding up again to block them from cutting back into my lane. These behaviors are very dangerous and would easily be labeled road rage, but many people have to be made aware that their driving is inappropriate. I'm not perfect, and two wrongs don't make a right, but for some reason I always feel inclined to put these tailgaters in their place, or atleast to let them know that their driving is rude and won't be tolerated.
Sol Valdez from Generation 2 came up with a plan to improve his driving skills. He decided to be more aware of his actions when driving and that in tern would promote better driving on his behalf. His efforts to become conscious of the consequences of bad driving for himself (ticket) and others (accidents and stress) led him to believe that he would dramatically improve his skills as a driver. I totally agree with Sol. The first step to any change or understanding is awareness. Once the awareness is gained, it's up to the person whether they want to put forth the necessary effort to change or adapt. The best way for everyone to drive better in my opinion to be aware that they are not better than anyone else on the road. Put yourself in the other person's shoes. Maybe their driving somewhat slow because a friend or family member was killed in an accident while speeding. Maybe they just like to be cautious or they enjoy driving peacefully instead of in a rush. Impatience and selfishness will only decrease the years of one's life. Is getting somewhere a few minutes sooner with all of that stress worth that?
2. Introduction
The topic of this course is Driving Psychology. By learning concepts from the book Road Rage and Aggressive Driving we as students are taking this class in order to get awareness of how aggressive driving can lead to road rage which can result in stress, accidents, incidents of violence, tickets, and death. The class also serves to educate people in how to become aware of their cognitive, affective, and behavioral components when they get behind the wheel. By self-witnessing, people who suffer from road rage, or just those who want to improve their driving, can do so. Driving has become the most popular and most widespread method of transportation in the world. This rise in transportation technology hasn't come without a price (Crash facts and Statistics). So the ultimate purpose of this class is to educate people of the problem in hopes that the things learned in this class will promote a chain reaction to improve the driving of those everywhere. This would limit the amount of money spent on accidents each year, the amount of deaths of drivers and pedestrians, and limit the amount of negative karma on the roadways.
I am involved in this topic because I am a very aggressive driver. This is a very meaningful topic for me right now because of the fact that I'm aware that I am an aggressive driver. I don't necessarily think that I am a bad driver (I'll go into my theories in part 4.), but I also know that I'm not really part of the solution, so I must be a part of the problem. I also want to get more of an idea as to why some people suffer from road rage, and how we all can improve as drivers. Mark Corpuz mentioned in his speech that "men experience more negative feelings behind the wheel like rage, impatience, danger, violence, and competition while women report positive while driving" (Gender Effect). He does later mention that women are increasing in incidents of road rage. Being a man, that makes me more likely to engage in road rage activity compare to most women, and probably the majority of men (in my case). This definitely make me a danger on the road to myself, and to everyone else on the road. By taking this course, I hope to get a better idea of why people drive aggressively, what we can do about it as individuals, and how we as a community and nation can fight the problem. Personally, I hope to find the route to my aggressive driving and to deal with it, or sublimate it so that I can do my part in making the roads a safer place.
3. Definitions
(I) The drivers Three-Fold Self- This consists of the driver's Affective self, which is the feelings and motivations of the driver, the Cognitive self, which is the thinking and reasoning of the driver, and the Sensorimotor self, which is the sensations, perceptions, and motor acts. An example would be that if someone just cut me off, my affective self might express anger or surprise, my cognitive self would tell me that the person might be late for work or is in an emergency situation, and my justification of them cutting me off would then lead my sensorimotor self to slow so there can be ample room between us. The three domains can be seen in more depth here.
(ii) Self-Witnessing Methodology- Is the idea where you take a mental step back (to view yourself) to give you awareness of what you are doing, thinking, and feeling as a driver. One way of doing it is to voice what you're thinking, feeling and doing aloud. Anthony Chung from generation 5 has a self witnessing exercise where you can see how he decided to adapt this technique of self witnessing.
(iii) Road Rage- The habit of aggressive driving that considered normal, and permanent by the driver committing the act whether he/she is aware of it or not. It can consist verbally (yelling, honking the horn, obscene gesturing, etc.), quietly (complaining, rushing, blocking, competing, tailgating), and epically (racing, chasing, cutting off, provoking physical altercations, etc.) The formula for road rage as Dr. James sees it can be seen here.
(iv) Aggressive Driving Legislation- Is the attempt by the government to compose a set of laws that pertain to driving and what is and it's acceptable while operating a vehicle on the road. Those who do not abide by these standards will be punished in the form of tickets issued by police. This specific legislation tries to pinpoint those exact behaviors that are seen as extremely or overly aggressive for the safety of all drivers on the road. Here is an article explaining a little about why and how aggressive driving legislation has come about.
(v) The Driver's Emotional Intelligence- refers to how a driver reacts to negative situations while driving. Inhibiting venting due to provocative situations and letting the initial and and excitement over the incident subside is an example of high emotional intelligence while driving. Retaliatory behaviors that can be classified as road rage behaviors are an example of low emotional intelligence while driving. An example could be where a driver is getting tailed by another driver. A person with low emotional intelligence may floor their brakes in an attempt to stop the actions of the tailgater. A person with high emotional intelligence would ignore the tailgater or switch lanes to avoid being tailgated, without any negative retaliatory behavior.
(vi) The Driver's Emotional Spin Cycle- consists of two sides: the positive and the negative. Brian Bellew from generation 19 had this illustration of the emotional spin cycle:
So if you were to adopt this same model into driving, the drivers who have the positive outlook on driving and life itself would have positive outlooks on situations while driving. Those who have a negative outlook on life will obtain negative outlooks on any given driving incident or situation. An example would be a driver having a horn go off behind him/her. A driver with a positive outlook would think that the person behind is trying to get the attention of someone they know, accidentally pressed the horn, or would ignore the horn altogether, not thinking that it was directed at them. A person with a negative outlook would engage in such retaliatory behaviors like those that constitute road rage.
(vii) Newsgroups For Drivers- is a place where drivers have the chance to voice their thoughts over the internet. It is a place where people can communicate their concerns, ideas, thoughts and opinions about any topic pertaining to driving. Kendra Morgin gives us a chance to see how to find newsgroups for drivers, how to participate, and her opinions concerning driving newsgroups.
(viii) Lifelong Driver Education- stresses that driving is something that can be improved upon during the entire lifetime of an individual, from preschool to the elderly. Chapter nine from Road Rage and Aggressive Driving is about how the pursuit to master the art of driving is infinite, and how drivers education can be taught from day one for an individual by setting a good example, and the learning process can continue for the duration of a river's life.
(ix) Parking Rage can be defined as the habit of behavior consistent with that of road rage, but pertaining to parking situations. It is where an individual gets emotional because another individual's parked car seems to be infringing on their space. A couple of examples could be a car parked blocking or infringing on the driveway of another, or one individual's car parking over the parking stall line (boundary of the parking space). Whenever one feel's negatively emotionally affected (whether they are passive about it or not) about parking situations, they may be suffering from parking rage.
(x) Shopping Rage can be defined as people resorting to negative behavior (like those that define road rage) when shopping. It usually is apparent during the holiday season, when malls are the most crowded and cannot handle the amount of consumers. This creates a competitive and chaotic environment of long lines and short tempers. This can result in negative social behavior between customers or customers and staffing at the mall which can be defined as shopping rage.
4. Autobiographical
I think that I'm a good driver, being very coordinated, tactical, and skillful on the road, but I am also a very bad driver when it comes to emotional intelligence and road rage. It started when I use to live in Mililani. I went to school in town, so every morning I sat in atleast 45 minutes of stop/go traffic to get to school, then atleast 45 minutes of the same to get home. This was frustrating for me, even though I wasn't driving. I saw how people would drive selfishly and aggressively, not having any consideration for anyone else but themselves by cutting people off, not letting others in their lane, tailgating, etc. My mom was one of those people. She was a very inconsiderate and aggressive driver. My dad was a patient and supportive driver, but I never rode with him. Whenever I did, I felt relaxed and calm, but I also tended to think that he went too slow sometimes. I felt tense and agitated when I rode with my mom. I didn't like the way she drove and her aggression always made me feel tense.
The media wouldn't help the situation by having traffic reports on the radio. They would tell us how bad the traffic was (pretty bad everyday), so this made the frustration start before the trips even began. Nowadays I don't drive in the morning traffic because my schedule doesn't force me to. The media affects us as a population by making racing attractive. This competitive and dangerous from of driving makes me mad. That's when I suffer from low emotional intelligence. When I see these racer cars on the road cutting people off, lane hopping, and tailgating, especially when they're doing this to me, I get bothered. Most of these are kids with no respect for the law, or anyone else on the road. The entertainment industry glorifies racing with movies and these impressionable kids use their parent's money to put thousands of dollars of illegal products into their cars. I watch these same movies and feel an attraction to driving fast, but I don't feel like I have to make these fictional depictions a reality.
My friends usually tell me that I drive pretty dangerously. They don't tell me that I speed, but that I'm pretty reckless when I drive. They tell me that I'm a good driver, which contradicts what they tell me about reckless, but they often tell me that they feel anxious when I'm driving. This affects me because I want my friends to feel comfortable when they are in the car with me, so I tend to drive supportively when I have friends as passengers. One example is when I see a red light ahead, I slow. When I know that the light is going to turn green, I speed up and right as it turns green, I time the light so that I don't have to come to a complete stop. Of course I do look through the intersection to see that no cars are speeding through the red light, but it still is somewhat dangerous. After a friend commented that she got scared ever time that I do that, I stopped.
I just like to get to where I'm going the fastest, but safest possible. I want everyone to drive economically aswell. I believe that there are certain ethics to driving that everyone should follow. Thing like going slow should only be done in the right lane (slow lane) and if there is room behind me, why try to speed up to get in front of me? I see these concepts as my personal boundaries. If I'm let in a lane by someone, I wave in appreciation. I expect that same appreciation when I do the same. I think that the majority people in this world have grown to be more self-serving and egotistical. I drive using the golden rule in mind. I try not to do to others what I wouldn't want done to me. Keeping that in mind, I drive respecting others in hope that it will be returned. When it is not, I be a vigilante which isn't appropriate, but that's what I'm working on. We'll see how it goes.
5. Conclusion
This assignment really opened my eyes to how I am as a driver and how there's a term to define every action and though that I commit when I'm driving. It made me think about the driver that I want to be, and the self witnessing idea helped me to come up with a solid plan to condition myself to improve my driving skills. If I can alter my driving and do my part, then there's one more person that makes the roads safer. By driving by example, I will be helping my children to become better drivers and everyone in the car with me may also follow my example. By driving better I will also do my part to make the roads safer for everyone.
6. Future Generations
I am realizing through this course a better understanding of who I am and how this affects the way that I drive. If I can see the driver that I want to be, then analyze the driver that I am, I can make the driver I am more like the driver that I want to be. We all have to do our parts in making the roads safe to drive on or walk beside. No one wants the tragedy of accidents to affect them or their loved ones. Improving your own driving is doing your part to decrease this risk.