My Driving Personality Makeover Project
by SAYO YOSHINO
A link to Instructions for Your Report 2
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy20/g20lecturenotes409a.htm
1.
Preface
A link to Report 1: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409as2004/sayo/report1.htm
Brief
review of Report 1:
The purpose of the
report 1 was to introduce the overall theories and applications of driving
psychology. Mainly, I defined 10
different theories and applications that are shown below to help us understand about driving psychology.
1.
The driver's threefold Self
2.
Self-witnessing methodology
3.
Road rage
4.
Aggressive driving legislation
5.
The driver's emotional intelligence
6.
The driver's emotional spin cycle
7.
Newsgroups for drivers
8.
Lifelong driver education
9.
“TEE CARDS”
10.
“Driving Cartoons”
For instance, a
definition of “the driver’s threefold self” is that driving behavior involves the whole
personality of an individual. The
individual’s personality (the driver’s threefold self) can be divided into
three parts: affective, cognitive, and sensorimotor.
|
The
Driver’s Threefold Self |
||
|
Affective |
Cognitive |
Sensorimotor |
|
Feelings,
motivation, emotions, attitudes, values |
Thoughts,
reasoning, judgment, knowledge |
Sensation,
perception, vision, fatigue, pain
motor reactions, stress |
|
|
|
|
In
addition to defining the definitions of droving psychology, report 1 included
autobiography as a passenger. In
the section, how behavior of my parents, media, my friends influence my behavior
as a passenger and my perspective about driving in general.
Brief
summary of the conclusion section:
Driving psychology
seems very useful for all generations, from children to elderly throughout the
world. Since traditional driving education
covers a limited area especially in the technical part of driving (sensorimotor), driving psychology is necessary to teach the
emotional mechanisms and control strategies.
About
Report 2:
The purpose of the
report 2 is to describe some self- assessment tests and questionnaires, and to
try using a driving personality makeover method to modify a driver’s behavior
to a more supportive driving behavior. A driver’s
resistance to change his/ her driving philosophy and style are normal reactions
that many drivers experience when they try driver self- modification exercise
for the first time. In fact,
according to Dr. Leon James’s research, “70 percent of drivers complain about
the aggressiveness of others, but only 30 percent admit to their own aggressiveness”
(P185). A driver to make it through
“A W M” (Acknowledge, Witness, and Modify) is a key to develop emotional
intelligence and to become a supportive driver. Both the self- assessment tests and the
driving personality makeover method explained in this report 2 cover “A W M”
differently but effectively.
Hopefully, at the end of this report, readers will understand how each
test and method works and try using them to have a more supportive driving life.
2.
Introduction: Objective Self- assessment
Trying checklists
like “YOUR ROAD RAGE TENDENCY” and “HOW PASSENGER- FRIENDLY ARE YOU” is a good
start to find out about yourself as a driver.
CHECKLIST:
YOUR ROAD RAGE TENDENCY (P40)
Brief description: The checklist can
be used to assess your current road rage level mainly from four perspectives
that are anger theory, driving philosophy, habit of compulsive rushing or
feeling competitive, and oversensitivity to social pressure by motorists.
Examples
of statements:
²
I swear a lot more in traffic than I do elsewhere.
²
I feel that it’s important to force certain
drivers to behave appropriately on the highway.
²
I try to get to my destination in the shortest
time possible, or else it doesn’t feel right.
²
I hate large trucks and I refuse to drive
differently around them.
²
Click here to see all statements CHECKLIST: YOUR ROAD RAGE TENDENCY (P40)
Scoring
system:
²
Write a circle when a statement applies to you
(Yes) and do not write anything when a statement does not apply to you (No).
²
After you go through all the statement, count
the number of circles.
²
Score range from 0 to 20
Interpreting
the score:
²
less than 5: you
are not an aggressive driver and your road rage tendency is controllable
²
between 5 and 10: you have moderate road rage habits
²
greater than 10: your road rage tendency is out of control
²
A participant scored 9 out of 20.
²
He has moderate road rage habits since his
score fall in between 5 and 10
²
9 statements which he did agree were:
1.
2- I normally have critical thoughts about
other drivers
2.
6- It’s good to get
your anger out because we all have aggressive feelings inside that naturally
come out under stressful situations.
3.
7- When I’m very upset about something, it’s a
relief to step on the gas to give my feelings an outlet
4.
8- I feel that it’s important to force certain
drivers to behave appropriately on the highway.
5.
12- I try to get to my destination in the
shortest time possible, or else it doesn’t feel right.
6.
13- If I stopped driving aggressively, others
would take advantage of my passivity.
7.
15- I feel energized by the sense of power and
competition I experience while driving aggressively.
8.
17- Once in a while I get so frustrated in
traffic that I begin to drive somewhat recklessly.
9.
19- Sometimes I feel that I’m holding up
traffic so I start driving faster than feels comfortable.
²
Analysis of questions
1.
Your anger theory (questions
1 to 7)
2.
Your driving philosophy (questions
8 to 11)
3.
Your habit of compulsive rushing or feeling
competitive (questions
12 to 17)
4.
Your oversensitivity to social pressure by
motorists (questions
18 to 20)
·
A participant had 3 anger theories (questions
2, 6, and 7) out of 7.
·
He had 1 driving philosophy (question 8) out
of 4.
·
He had 4 habits of compulsive rushing or
feeling competitive (questions 12, 13, 15 and 17) out of 6.
·
He had 1 oversensitivity
to social pressure by motorists (question 19) out of 3.
·
Since all of the above leads to road rage in
some degree, going through the 3 steps of “A W M” (Acknowledge, witness and
modify) is important for him and people around him to have safe driving life.
·
Especially, at the part checklist which
assesses his habit of compulsive rushing or feeling competitive, he scored more
frequently compared to other part of checklist like his anger theory and his
driving philosophy. Thus, I would
suggest that modifying his habit of compulsive rushing or feeling competitive
is a good start for him to become more supportive driver.
A word of caution: Since
this checklist is done by you and it only tells your opinion about each
statement, the result you get is not necessarily true in real driving
life.
CHECKLIST:
HOW PASSENGER- FRIENDLY ARE YOU (P184)
Brief description: This checklist can be
used to assess the degree of your passenger- friendliness as a driver.
Examples
of statements:
²
I always consider my passenger’s feelings.
²
I adjust my driving to accommodate to my
passengers’ comfort.
²
I let my passengers influence my driving for the
better.
²
I want my passengers to think of me as a good and
safe driver.
²
Click here to see all statements CHECKLIST: HOW PASSENGER- FRIENDLY ARE YOU (P184)
Scoring
system:
²
Write a checkmark when you think a statement
is true to you
²
After you go through all the statement, count
the number of checkmarks.
²
Scores range from 0 to 10.
Interpretation
of the checklist:
²
A participant scored 7 out of 10.
²
I would say he is a 70% passenger- friendly
driver.
²
3 statements which he did not agree were:
Ø
7- My
passengers can control the air conditioning and windows.
Ø
8- Passengers
have the right to criticize the driver’s behavior.
Ø
10- My
passengers can select the music.
²
He has the tendency to not want passengers to
control devises inside his car.
²
Also, it seems that he already has built his
own driving philosophy.
A word of caution: This checklist
is just a self check. In other
words, the result of checklist only tells your opinion about each statement, so
the result you get is not necessarily true in real situations.
3. My
Driver Self- modification Attempt
Here
are two links to prior generation reports:
²
driving personality
make-over is it for me? by a G11 student
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409as99/manibusan/report3.html#what
The
G11 student describes a personality make- over process in 3 steps which is
shown below.
1.
During driving, witnessing and
acknowledging your faults and actions
2.
Trying out a behavior
modification plan to change your driving behavior to more positive driving
behavior.
3.
Taking responsibility for your
actions because a driver is the one who controls a vehicle and behavior to
avoid harm your self and others.
The
student also mentioned that a driving personality make- over process listed
above is not easy. In the process,
conscious evaluation of three domains which are affective (feeling), cognitive
(thinking) and behavior are keys for a successful personality make- over.
²
being a driving buddy: what it’s like
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409as99/manibusan/report2.html
According
to the student, being a driving buddy is in other words, giving a driving
personality make- over to someone.
A
driving buddy is the one who is responsible to observe a driver’s (a friend or
someone close to you) driving behavior and identify what behaviors the driver
should change to make safe driving behavior to avoid endanger situations. The student also mentioned that being a
driving buddy is not easy. The reason
is the driving buddy needs to critique the friend’s driving behavior and change
the negative driving styles.
(a)
My experiment
PARTNERSHIP
DRIVING (P185) This
is an exercise to gain the objective view of
a driver by getting help from a driving partner because habituated aggressive driving
is often difficult to identify and change by one’s
self. Basically, the partner
observes and gives feedback about the driver’s behavior to the driver. This exercise is rich in design which
involves “A W M” (A- acknowledge, W- witness, M- modify) all in one.
Procedure:
Trial 1: Goal: Let a passenger
express his/ her feelings freely and to witness a driver’s aggressive driving
objectively during a trip and a driver acknowledges imperfection of his/her
driving philosophy and style.
|
Time Period |
A driver |
A passenger |
|
Before a
trip ↓ |
·
sign a partnership driving agreement to
protect the passenger ·
Take 2 checklists 1.
“YOUR ROAD RAGE TENDENCY” 2.
“HOW PASSENGER- FRIENDLY ARE YOU” |
|
|
During the
trip ↓ |
·
drive as usual |
·
take notes ·
make comments (observation, feeling) |
|
After the
trip |
·
review the notes ·
discussion(directed toward the main purpose
of how you can improve) |
|
Trial
2:
|
Time Period |
A driver |
A passenger |
|
Before a
trip ↓ |
·
Take a checklist 1.
“HOW PASSENGER- FRIENDLY ARE YOU” |
·
give a recommendation |
|
During the
trip ↓ |
·
work on a recommendation |
·
take notes |
|
After the
trip |
·
review the notes ·
discussion ·
for a driver 1.
How well you followed the recommendation 2.
What you can do to improve further 3.
the differences between day 1 and day 2 ·
for a passenger 1.
What kinds of resistance did you experience? 2.
What new awareness did you gain about
yourself as a passenger? 3.
What changes will you work on next with your
driving partner? |
|
Trial
3 or later:
Repeat
the same process as Day 2 with other recommendations one at a time.
Last
trial:
Repeat the
same process as Day 2 with other recommendation.
Also, take 2 checklists which
are “YOUR ROAD RAGE TENDENCY” and “HOW PASSENGER- FRIENDLY ARE YOU” to see how
a driver’s driving philosophy and style has changed over period of time.
(b)
Data Tables
“YOUR ROAD RAGE TENDENCY”
|
DAY 1 |
9 OUT OF 20 |
He has moderate
road rage habits |
|
LAST |
4 OUT OF 20 |
He is no
longer an aggressive driver and his road rage tendency is controllable |
“HOW
PASSENGER- FRIENDLY ARE YOU”
|
TRIAL |
SCORE |
DESTINATION |
DRIVE TIME |
RECOMENDATION |
|
1 |
7 out of 10 |
|
30 min |
NONE |
|
2 |
7 out of 10 |
Hawaiikai - |
15 |
No off sight for
more than 1 sec |
|
3 |
8 out of 10 |
|
15 |
Holding the
steering wheal while you are driving |
|
4 |
8 out of 10 |
Ala moana- Restaurant Row |
15 |
Making enough
space between your car and a car in front |
|
5 |
No data |
|
15 |
NONE (refused) |
|
6 |
8 out of 10 |
|
15 |
Not making turns
too fast |
|
7 |
8 out of 10 |
|
10 |
Allocate
sufficient time for trip |
|
8 |
No data |
|
10 |
NONE (refused) |
|
9 |
9 out of 10 |
|
10 |
Not making turns
too fast |
|
LAST |
10 out of 10 |
Ward- Ala moana |
10 |
Avoid unnecessary
cell phone use while you are driving |
(c)
Analysis and Discussion
First of all,
as a passenger, I had hard time collecting objective data of my driver’s
behavior. One of the reasons is I
frequently aid not look while taking notes and I missed the driver’s driving
behavior while I am writing. For
instance, my driving partner pointed out to me in one of the trials that, I had
missed a little communication between my driver and the other driver. The other reason is since I have never
driven before, my understanding of driver’s perspective is very low and my
focus tends to go to my driver not my driver’s behavior. Thus, I was concerned that my objective
data would be skewed.
Having a
passenger’s perspective is good in a way, since driving is like team work in
that a driver is not the only person in a car, and it is better to have both a
driver and a passenger’s perspective to understand each other’s view. In any case, to resolve my difficulty,
at least I tried to check my driver’s behavior objectively, but I decided not
to count which behavior happened how many times. However, still I had to have some kind
of data which involves the numbers for this report 2, so I decided to let my
driver take a checklist every time before his driving starts.
My
participant’s road rage tendency decreased through out this exercise. Especially, his habit of compulsive
rushing or feeling competitive (questions 12 to 17). I think it is because many of the
recommendations involved not taking his eyes of the road for more than 1 sec,
not making turns too fast, and allocating sufficient time for the trip. I also pointed out to him that when he
drives under time pressures, he can hardly drive calmly because his tension
when he feels rushed and calmed are very different.
I also explained to
him it is better to eliminate excessive cell phone use while he is driving
because no matter how skillful he is in using a cell phone, there is always the
possibility of getting into an accident.
My point was once he got in an accident he would lose another precious
time. Thus, he became more aware of
driving philosophy in time.
Also, he became very passenger- friendly and improved emotional intelligence after the ten trials of
this exercise. In fact, he started
out with 7 out of 10 scores, but he ended with 10 out of 10 scores. An explanation for the improvement was
presence of a passenger throughout the trials. It made him more aware about the
passenger.
(d)
Conclusion and future plans
This partnership
driving exercise was a useful way to modify my partner’s driving habits. Every time we did the exercise, I felt
our awareness level toward driving increase. In fact, the exercise helped me
understand the driver’s perspective and made me aware that driving is a complex
behavior. Since my partner’s road
rage tendency has not fully gone, further trial of this exercise is
necessary. Having done the
exercise, my partner him self realized his imperfection in his driving
philosophy and style, and the importance of a life long driving education.
In trial 5 and 8,
my partner tried to give up his modification exercise due to the
misunderstanding of a driver and a passenger’s perspective and tiredness. However, we have never truly given up
the exercise because we understand the importance of this exercise. Overall, my driving partner was a very
supportive participant who has willingness to change his behavior to be
better. He even told me that his
awareness level has improved and he has been responsive about his driving
behavior more than before even without my presence. Nowadays, he has found usefulness of “news groups for drivers”, so he has started
attending a traffic discussion session once a week.
Like I stated
earlier in this paragraph, I would like to continue doing the partnership
driving exercise for my driving partner and for myself. In addition to this, I would like to try
an exercise called “appropriate and inappropriate passenger behaviors” (P160)
in Dr. James’s Road Rage book to be a supportive passenger. Also, I would like to try to use not
only the checklists I introduced in this report 2, but also various checklists
which are listed in Dr. James’s Road Rage book as a useful way to have various
perspectives as a driver and as a passenger.
I am very
serious about my future plans just stated because whatever exercise or self-
check my driving partner and I do influence each other in our everyday driving
life. In the beginning of this
partnership driving exercise, I was not sure what exactly I needed to do
because it was my first try. Still,
I am not fully skillful in doing this exercise, but by trial and error,
hopefully I can make a difference in society.
4.
Conclusion
This assignment
helped me (as a passenger) identify my partner’s driving style and
philosophy. Even though my partner
has been driving for over 5 years, since he had never had chance to analyze his
driving style objectively and to think about his driving philosophy, I found
many aggressive habits in his driving.
Luckily, his road rage tendency was not too difficult to change, he did
overcome “A W M” (acknowledge, witness, and modify) one step at a time. It was amazing to see his behavioral
changes directly because when he changed his driving style, I could tell he also
changed his driving philosophy through the way he talks about his emotion while
he is driving and driving situation, and through the checklists score he took
in each trial.
Overall, this
report 2 was useful for me to experiment some of the checklists and driver
self- modification exercise introduced in Dr. James’s Road Rage book. Truly, I understood the effectiveness of
each attempt, so I would like to use them when I get my driver’s license some
day near future.
In the beginning of
the semester, I was thinking that driver self- modification exercise was to
teach non- aggressive driving behavior to a driver. However, I realized that the aim of the
exercise especially “partnership driving” was actually not teaching. The exercise intended to help
identifying a driver’s aggressive driving behaviors, and the driver try to
modify his/ her aggressive driving style one by one by getting support from a
passenger.
I agree with a
concept of driving is like team work.
This time, I focused about a driver’s driving style and philosophy, but I
feel the necessity of modifying passenger’s behavior and philosophy to make our
driving life more supportive.
5. Future Generations
I strongly
recommend starting your Driver Self- modification Attempt as early as
possible. Also, in any exercise, it
is better to have as many trials as possible to see changes in driving behavior
and to collect more reliable data.