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 personali