Driving Psychology:  Theory and Application

By Mark Corpuz

Instructions Click Here

• Preface

  • Here's a scenario:  You're having a good day.  You decide to visit a friend so you jump into your car.  Then you get to the freeway but someone refuses to let you in.  You try your best but this person still refuses to let you in.  So, you decide to get even with this person.  You get behind he/she and tail them, at the same time talking a lot of smack.  The person notices what you're doing and retaliates by slowing down or tapping the breaks.  This continues and escalates.  In the end your day is ruined because this person put you in a bad mood.  This is an example of Road Rage and what it does to people.  This course is designed to help students understand why people drive the way they do and why people react the way they do. 

   

  • What it means to be Generation 20?  To be Generation 20 is a big deal.  To know that this project stems back 19 generations before me is incredible.  The fact that you are able to see other generations thoughts and ideas on concepts is very interesting.  Each person has a different out look on things.  It seemed that a lot of students were overwhelmed by this course mainly because of the amount of detail the assignments were written.  I myself was a little skeptical about this course because of the amount of information that needs to be absorbed.  Although, students have learned a lot from this course evidently by the amount of information they have in their reports.  Based on that I have confidence that I will learn a lot from this course.  

   

  • Continuing the generational reports with my work has a bit of pressure.  The pressure comes from knowing that following generations will be viewing my report.  So, I need to make sure that what I put up does not make me look like a fool.  

   

  • Prior generations had topics such as- "How music corresponds with driving moods", "driver communication", "drunk driving", "road rage"...  Here are three examples of students reports from different generations:

    • Jennifer Lee G10

      • In this report Jennifer had logged specific days while on the road.  In one specific day she was in the car with her boyfriend and a car cut them off without the courtesy of a signal.  To top it off that car didn't even check to see if there was anyone in the way and almost caused an accident with Jennifer and her boyfriend.  Because of the way things went down Jennifer's boyfriend got upset and retaliated by overtaking the other car and flashing the middle finger.

      • Jennifer's report was well written because she logged the events down very well.  She also presented the type of communication form during that event.  The analysis of the situation was also well written.  You find understanding in the reason why people react the way they do.

    • Christopher Flores G11

      • In this report Christopher talks about drunk driving and describes the three main categories or topics from the National Commission Against Drunk Driving.  The categories are Youth and Adolescence, Young Adults, and Chronic Drunk Drivers.  

      • Christopher did a very good job in describing each category.  In each category he put his own reactions to it.  That helped you understand what the emphasis was and what his opinions were.

    • Shaun Harada G14

      • In this report Shaun describes different forms of Rage.  There is "Surf Rage", "Air Rage", "Cell Phone Rage", "Desk Rage", "Computer Rage", and "Shopper Rage".  

      • Shaun's report I found very interesting because you can relate to each form of rage.  For example, "Surf Rage" is a topic I can relate to because I surf.  He mentions how surfing used to be a for the soul but now it has become overly competitive.  When surfing you feel the competition among people you don't know and people you do know.  Everyone in the water is out there to out do each other, whether if it is by showing off with tricks or just catching the biggest wave.  Like Shaun said, this rage along with others is sweeping the world. 

• Introduction

  • The topic of this course is Driving Psychology.  This is a new topic in the Psychology field but it is a topic that is late over due.  Despite the fact that it is late over due, it should be a topic that a lot of people will find interest in because in this day and age you cannot get anywhere with out transportation.  

   

  • As I understand it this course is designed to give better understanding to our driving behavior.  We are to learn the sub-components of driving habits in the three domains of behavior which are affective, cognitive, and sensorimotor.  This course also focuses on the component skills of driving behavior and their developmental stages.  As the students we are to learn self witnessing and self modification skills in the area of driving behavior.  For the students who don't drive regularly, they are to recognize the driving behavior of others and train them to change their bad habits.  Students are to publish reports, post them on the web, and do oral presentations.

   

  • Presentations help students learn the topics of Driving Psychology.  Each student presenting a different topic helps them master that topic and therefore are able to teach it to the rest of the class.  For example, Jenny Arakaki did her presentation on Chapter 1 "Driving in the Age of Rage".  She went down the list of topics discussed in the book.  Hearing it from someone else is different from just reading the chapter because you hear things that you missed while reading.  In this case, when she mentioned the topic "The Anger Choice", it made more sense to me.  I learned that the idea that everyone should behave or react by your own impulse was taught by our culture.  That culture taught us that venting is good when in reality it increases stress levels and depresses immune system functioning.  

   

  •  I feel very involved in this topic because I drive everyday.  There is no way to avoid getting into the car and using it as transportation.  There is also no way to avoid other people on the road because people have to get to places as well.  This is a very meaningful topic because like I mentioned earlier, I drive everyday and can't avoid it.  So, being in this course I hope to learn why I and others behave the way we do behind the wheel and also hope to learn what actions should be taken to prevent Road Rage.  

• Definitions

  • The Driver's Threefold Self

    • Affective Self:  feelings and motivations

      • Example:  "I've got to be careful not to speed...I don't want to get into an accident or get a ticket"

    • Cognitive Self:  thinking and reasoning

      • Example:  "That guy looks like he's drunk because he's swerving, I better not get too close"

    • Sensorimotor Self:  sensations, perceptions, and motor acts

      • Example:  "Hey buddy, f*ck you (while flying the middle finder)"

       

  • Self-witnessing Methodology  

    • A part of yourself becomes a witness and thinks aloud what the other part of you is doing, thinking, and feeling.  By doing this you learn what you do automatically.  One method of doing this is using a tape recorder while driving.  When doing this you can replay your trip in the car and be witness to yourself.  Self witnessing reveals your true driving personality. (Road Rage and Aggressive Driving pg. 138)

     

  • Road Rage

    • It is a learned cultural habit of retaliation when you feel the need to retaliate.  It refers to a state of anger that escalates to aggressive behavior such as words, gestures, and sometimes assault and battery.  People choose to display Road Rage.  For example, when someone cuts you off...you choose to become upset and retaliate.  According to Dr. Leon James' Testimony to Congress, Road Rage is a habit acquired in childhood.  They learn bad habits in the back seat of a car.  

     

  • Aggressive Driving Legislation

    • Legislatures at federal, state, and city levels currently enacting bills against aggressive drivers.  A list of description on aggressive driving include:  breaking the speed limit, cutting drivers off when passing, not allowing someone to pass safely, driving across highway dividers, and so on.  Different states have different penalties and fines for different charges.  (Road Rage and Aggressive Driving pg. 225,228-231)

     

  • The Driver's Emotional Intelligence

    • Inhibit venting and let the excitatory endangerment response dissipate to protect against aggressiveness and rage.  According to Daniel Goleman there are six components of emotional intelligence that can be learned with practice:

      • How to reappraise a situation and look for alternative explanations

      • How to self regulate negative mood shifts

      • How to empathize with "the other side"

      • How to persist in a plan despite distracting frustrations

      • How to control or neutralize one's aggressive impulses

      • How to think with positive outcomes

    • Training in emotional intelligence helps drivers manage their social relations.  (Road Rage and Aggressive Driving pg. 111-116)

     

  • The Driver's Emotional Spin Cycle

    • There are 2 sides, positive and negative.  Each side consists of 2 categories:  1-towardes ourselves and 2-towards others and our environments.  The purpose of the spin cycle is to be able to cross over the 2 "bridges".  Each bridge starts at the negative side and ends at the positive side.  Negative side = feelings of anger and fuel for your temper which leads to aggressive acts.  The negative side is viewed as the initial instinct.  The spin cycle is to change the way a person thinks.  People have to find the positive out of a negative situation and cross those "bridges". Christopher Cupp

    

    http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy16/g16reports-instructions.html#Two-Bridges

     

  • Lifelong Driver Education

    • Traffic emotions education should be a part of driving psychology school curriculum from grades K-12 in order to prepare young people as drivers.  The reason why is because emotional literacy for drivers starts at childhood.  (Road Rage and Aggressive Driving pg. 115)

     

  • Supportive Driving

    • It is a mental orientation that lets drivers manage other drivers and traffic by being positive which avoids built in negativity of others.  It encourages us to focus on the enjoyment of driving while not letting hassles bother us.  It helps contain road rage, reduces stress, boosts the immune system, fosters community spirit, protects from emotional or physical injury, and protects from financial liability.  (Road Rage and Aggressive Driving pg. 118 & 169)

     

  • Defensive driving

    • It teaches drivers to concentrate on safety of the vehicle, driver, and passengers.  It helps reduce irrational decision making and helps logical thought patterns.  Although, it does not provide immunity to negative thoughts or to impatience and intolerance of the faults of others.  Defensive driving is more mindful but it makes puts us in a state of competition and suspicion.  (Road Rage and Aggressive Driving pg. 118)

• Autobiographical

  • I believe I am a pretty good driver.  I've been in one accident when I was in high school, but I was not at fault.  I have been in a lot of close calls, but they were not my fault as well.  I've never been pulled over by a cop and have never fallen asleep on the wheel.  Then again, I do speed every so often, I do drive under the influence, and I do other things that would label me a bad driver.  My parents never really taught me how to drive.  Although, I've learned from this course that I probably picked up my driving habits while in the back seat.  My mom is a very cautious driver.  She never speeds and never gets upset.  Although, sometimes she is overly cautious and upsets other drivers.  My dad on the other hand is more aggressive.  He speeds at times and sometimes looses attention on the road.  He also would drive under the influence.  

   

  • The media doesn't really affect me in my driving skills.  I've seen "The Fast and the Furious" and it didn't really make me feel like racing, although I can't say that for others.  I have friends that are racers but I never really got into it.  In fact, I despise the idea of being a racer because they all end up having ego trips just because they have a nice car that can go fast.  Also, with that ego trip they tend to push it to the limit and endanger other people on the road.

   

  • My current driving style is pretty much laid back.  I don't drive fast unless I have to, I don't drive reckless unless I have to, I don't race cause I think it's dumb, and I usually don't get that mad when other drivers do stupid things around me.  The only reason why I would get mad is if they come close to endangering my life and the lives of the people in my car.  

• Conclusion

  • This assignment got me believing that being a supportive driver would actually be great.  At first I thought, me becoming one wouldn't make a difference because others are not doing it then again if everyone had that attitude it would never work.  It's nice when people are courteous on the road.  A wave thank you, a smile, a shaka, or anything else pleasant sometimes makes your day.  So why not I give it a try.

   

  • This assignment helps you see what kind of driver you are and what kind of driver you should be.  This could have a positive impact on the driving society because if people learn the truth about the benefits of being a supportive driver, they would think twice about flicking someone off.  Also, if everyone learns that drivers education should be taught early in life then it would make a difference for the future drivers.  It may seem impossible, but what's there to lose.  

• Future Generations

  • The reports will all seem overwhelming.  So much information, so many different reports to check out.  It'll make you just not want to go deeper into them.  But believe me, as you read through them you will learn a lot and get a lot out of them.  Don't be discourage by all the information.  I was at first but after going through the different generations, it doesn't seem so overwhelming in the end.  You will learn what kind of driver you are and what kind of driver you should be.  The statistics you learn in this class will also shock you and get your attention.