My Driving Personality Makeover Project

By Melissa Mansfield

www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy20/g20lecturenotes409a.htm

1. Preface

In my first report for Dr. James’s course called driving psychology (www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409as2004/mansfield/report1.html), I explored what it means to drive and the many different skills needed to drive. This course is designed to make the student aware of both negative and positive habits while driving, such as not using a turn signal or failing to yield. I examined other student’s reports from past generations to get an idea of what issues other students were dealing with. I found that I had much in common with past generations of students. Then I gave multiple definitions for key concepts in driving psychology, such as explaining how the driver has a three fold self (cognitive, affective and sensory-motor). For example, breathing rapidly because of frustration would be a sensory-motor reaction, while a negative thought would be the cognitive self and the affective self would be feeling frustrated because of rush hour traffic. The report is basically an eye opener for all students who have never really thought about their style of driving. It shows the student the multi-faceted aspects of driving.

It allows the students to examine their driving style using the concepts in Dr. James’s book Road Rage and Aggressive Driving. Driving psychology is not only about acknowledging ones’ behavior while driving, but also accepting that some habits are bad and need to be modified. The book (www.drdriving.org/articles/book_toc.htm) gives the student the tools needed (such as self-witnessing or talking out loud while driving) to acknowledge problem areas and hopefully do something about them.

Report 1-www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409as2004/mansfield/report1.html

The purpose of report 2 is to implement a plan to change bad driving behavior. The student establishes a baseline of behavior and then picks certain ones that they wish to work on. I used the tests in Dr. James’s book to figure out where my problem areas are so that I could work on specific things that hinder me from being a supportive driving. I react to things in a negative way instead of being objective and giving people the benefit of the doubt. The report is meant to break down resistance to change and really dig in deep to find the reasons for these bad driving thoughts and behaviors and do something productive to change them into good thoughts and behaviors.

2. Objective Self-Assessment

The first test I took was called “Your verbal road rage tendency” and it basically allows you to gauge yourself in terms of how verbal you are in your abuse of other drivers. I checked off 5 out of the 12 items so I think I have a pretty high tendency to verbally abuse other drivers. The items that I checked off are mild but they are still making a judgment of other drivers. I consider myself a relatively tolerant driver (I let people in at a merge without them having to be pushy, I get out of the way if someone wants to pass, etc.) but I think I become less tolerant of other peoples mistakes. I expect everyone to drive like me (which entails not wanting to make anyone mad) and when they do not drive like I do, I verbally abuse them.

The second test I took was “Your epic road rage tendency”, which measures whether a person has epic road rage characteristics. These reactions to incidents on the road might put them at risk to be involved in a fatal road rage incident. I could not check off any of the items because I am a very submissive driver that tries not to create problems on the road.

The third test I took was “Are you a rushing maniac?” and it is designed to determine if a driver is always trying to beat the clock. I scored three out of 10 so I think I am somewhat trying to save time or not waste time. I think everyone feels like they are wasting time when they sit in traffic, but I don’t use that as an excuse to speed around everywhere. To some degree, it is expected that there will be traffic jams and slow downs around congested cities. As a commuter, I kind of expect and anticipate that I will sit for an hour each way in traffic, but I still can’t help feeling like it was a wasted hour.

The fourth test I took was “Are you an aggressive competitor?”

This is supposed to measure how competitive a driver is on the road. I checked off 3 out of 10 which is kind high for me because I do not consider myself a competitive person. I think other drivers make me feel like I have to ‘hold my own’ out there because people can be so pushy and rude that sometimes, they make you feel like you have to be aggressive in order to get where you need to go. For instance, if I clearly need to merge onto the freeway and all the cars move closer together because no one wants to let me in, I have to be aggressive and stick my car in between the traffic. If all the people were supportive drivers, then it wouldn’t matter because anyone would let me in.

The last test I took was called “Are you a scofflaw?” This one is designed to see if a driver has a lax attitude toward following the written rules of the road. Unfortunately, I checked off 5 out of the 10 items. I think this is because I am lazy and it is easier to not obey the rules then it is to obey the rules. It takes time and effort to signal every lane change and make sure you are going exactly the speed limit. It is just easier to do what everyone else is doing and switch lanes without signaling and kind of slow down at a stop sign.

3. My Driver Self-Modification Attempt

a) Design of my experiment

My first step to modify my driving is to make a diary of my driving behavior, including the cognitive self (such as your way of problem solving or analyzing a situation), the affective self (this includes your feelings) and the sensory-motor self (our physical self, our actions and what we are aware of). For example, after every trip in the car, I will write down what I thought about other drivers, how I felt driving home, and how I reacted to what others did. This way I can establish a baseline for my general driving behavior. This will help me identify my negative driving habits and my positive driving habits.

My second step to my modification plan is to review my diary every time I read it to try to target some areas where I seem to have the most trouble. Then I will become better at recognizing these same ways of behaving and can easily see them in myself while driving. My third step will be to acknowledge the areas I need work in and counter these bad behaviors with more socially supportive driving behaviors. This will include reappraisal of the situation and other techniques (such as pretending I do not feel angry or not giving in to feelings of frustration/impatience). This will also include trying to relax and find the good in the driving trip. I will tell myself that there is nothing I can do about being stuck in traffic, complaining will not make it any better, so I might as well relax and try to enjoy the trip. My main focus will be to try to be objective about others behaviors and not accuse people of things I know nothing about and have no control over.

b.

c) Analysis and Discussion

The numbers for my baseline behavior are similar to the numbers I got for the tests I took from the book. I have a strong desire to abuse other drivers verbally. I tend to make negative comments on others behaviors, especially when drivers make mistakes. I exhibit verbal road rage (which is when a person becomes enormously angry while driving. Road rage can be mental violence or physical violence and a common characteristic is the wish to strike back at the offensive driver) when I feel others are making irrational and selfish decisions.

I also verbally abuse other drivers when I feel they are not being safe and I am in danger. My emotional intelligence is not very high (having control over oneself and not venting because that is the easiest thing to do). It is apparent from the high levels of negative feelings seen in the baseline chart. I have negative thoughts which I do not have high enough emotional intelligence to ignore or change. My physical reactions scores are not as high as the others because maybe I am not as aware of my physical reactions or maybe just having negative thoughts is somehow better than being physically angry.

d) Conclusion and Future Plans

The implications of my findings are that it is much harder to change ones’ behaviors than it is to talk about changing it. I intended to have a significant change after my intervention, but I found it much harder than anticipated. It is almost as if I got used to keeping track of all my thoughts and feelings and actions. Then when I tried to modify the behavior, I found that I mentally struggled with myself. Part of me did not want to have those negative thoughts and feelings but another part of me was getting used to keeping track of every remark or feeling. I was reluctant to give up my commentary of other drivers, even though I felt very cynical and judgmental.

It was almost as if the reaction was so instant that only after the verbal putdown or hostile feelings could I reevaluate the situation and say to myself “Now Melissa, what if that was your own grandmother, would you have been that harsh on that other driver?” I am very good at correcting the negative thought, but I am having a hard time with not having the feeling in the first place. As a result of this, I will not just try to change my driving attitude, but my whole attitude in general. My plan is to convince myself that the world will be a much friendlier place if I just do not focus on the bad and instead focus on the good. This will be beneficial to me on a much larger scale, so I am serious about altering my view of the world.

4. Conclusion

My objective is to be able to see the world positively and not so pessimistically. This is not just in terms of driving psychology, but in my whole outlook on life. I tend to see the bad in things and always think people are out to get me, when in reality, there is a logical explanation that is not as bad as I think. My philosophy on life is not helping me, but instead it is hindering me.

5. Future Generations

Changing your behavior and thoughts and feelings is a serious job and not to be taken lightly. Change requires understanding who you really are and being honest with yourself, which is sometimes scary and overwhelming. Just hang in there and try to be accepting of your shortcomings. No one is perfect and everyone can improve. You will only get stronger from analyzing yourself and admitting your faults.

www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409as2004/mansfield/home.htm

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy20/g20classhome.html