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Driving personality make-over "is a way of allowing yourself to alter your behavior and change your driving habits to remake your traffic life more healthier and zestful...It also involves three steps that could be used as a tool to evaluate and help modify your driving behavior. The three steps are 1). Acknowledge your short comings, 2). Witness these faults, and 3). Modify your behavior one step at a time." Carolyn Agmata, G9
It is process whereby you "realize what kind of a driver you are and to modify your driving behavior if it is a problem. A driving personality make-over will help drivers be more patient, be able to control bad habits, and be able to control one's temper." Adele Kimura, G1
Driving personality make-over is "the way a person helps themselves to become a more considerate, law obeying, and non aggressive driver. It consists of two parts--1). the self witnessing aspect of a make-over and 2). the behavior modification." Dustin Telles, G10
With the integration of the definitions from above, I would define driving personality make-over as a process of 1). self witnessing and acknowledging your faults and actions while driving, 2). planning and carrying out a behavior modification regime to alter your driving behavior into something more positive, and 3). It is taking responsibility for our actions- we are in control of wheel when we drive and it is up to us to change any behavior that may harm ourselves or other drivers. The process of a driving personality make-over is not easy. Driving involves three domain: affect (our feelings), cognition (how we think), and behavior (how we behave). To begin a driving personality make-over requires the conscious evaluations of all these three domains. It requires recognizing our feelings, thoughts and behaviors while driving; identifying a behavior to be modified; taking the necessary steps to modify the behavior; taking the responsibility for our actions; and then applying the modified behavior into our driving.
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SELFISHNESS: Meriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (10th edition), defines selfishness as being concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself. It is seeking one's on advantage, pleasure or well-being without regard for others. Selfishness relates to driving personality make-over in that the driving behavior of people is often the product of selfishness. Some people speed on the road not because they are in a hurry, but rather because they enjoy driving fast. They get pleasure from speeding, passing other cars, and making fast and sudden lane changes regardless if their actions will harm others on the road. Thus, if people realize their selfishness and how inconsiderate it is to other people, then maybe they could begin to modify their driving behavior. When driving on the road, we must not only think of ourselves but also everyone else on the road; we must think for the safety of everyone and not just ways to obtain pleasure for ourselves.
ATTITUDE: Attitude is defined by David G. Myers (Social Psychology), as a favorable or unfavorable evaluative reaction toward something or someone, exhibited in one's beliefs, feelings, or intended behavior. A person's attitude influences his/her behavior. This relates to driving personality make-over in that our attitudes about driving, aggression, and other drivers affect our driving behavior. If we have negative evaluations of another driver's actions, then we might behave in a negative manner. For instance, if a person suddenly cuts into my lane, causing me to make a sudden break, I could respond in two ways. If I evaluated such an event in a negative manner, then I would probably honk my horn, tailgate the other driver, show obscene hand gestures or yell at the driver. On the other hand, if I evaluated the situation in a positive manner, then I would probably leave things as it is and continue on with my driving without letting it bother me. A person's attitude is crucial in driving personality make-over because it helps define the course of action the person is going to take.
SELF-AWARENESS: David G. Myers (Social Psychology), defines self-awareness as a self-conscious state in which attention focuses on oneself. It makes people more sensitive to their own attitudes and dispositions. When our attention focuses upon our own actions and thoughts, we would attribute more responsibility to ourselves. Self-awareness is an important concept in driving personality make-over. It is a vital step in modifying driving behaviors. One of the first steps in self modification is to acknowledge the behavior you want to change. You have to become self aware of your actions and the reasons why you behaved in such a manner. A person cannot begin to change a driving behavior if he does not consciously become aware of his actions. He must realize that he is in control of the wheel and take responsibility for his actions.
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The mini-self modification experiment that was implemented was to improve my behavior of driving too close to another vehicle. With the help of my sister, I took on the challenge of changing a driving behavior that I have so accustomed to throughout my driving years. Ever since I first learned how to drive, I always tend to follow too close to a vehicle. My passengers have outwardly told me that I drive too close and that it was not safe. However, I would always disregard them and tell them that I was the driver and that I know what I was doing. In this mini experiment, I would take along a passenger and have that person inform me when I was too close to a car and that I should allow for a greater distance between my car and the vehicle in front of me. This time I will listen to what my passenger says and take the first steps to modify this behavior.
Baseline Observation
The experiment began with the normal drive to school. The roads were not heavily congested so I was able to breeze through the traffic. During this 15 minute drive to school, my passenger informed me two times that I was driving too close to the car in front. She mentioned that the traffic situation was not too congested so I don't have to drive too close to the car. In response, I kept my distance of about two car sizes. As we approached the campus, traffic began to pick up. Drivers were trying to get into my lane. The distance of the car ahead of me slowly decreased to about a car size to only a couple of feet away. Then my passenger informed me again that I was driving too close. This time I hesitated to increase my distance, but she reminded me of my mini-self modification, so I reluctantly increase my distance again so that I was not too close to the vehicle.
When we arrived at school, I began to think about the reasons why I drive too close to another car. What I discovered was that I drive too close because I did not want other cars to cut in front of me, most especially during heavy traffic. I told myself that if you give a little space between your car and the car in front of you, that other people will force themselves into the space. This behavior from other drivers irritates me, so I don't give them the opportunity to perform such behaviors.
It was difficult for me to change my driving behavior. During the drive back home, in a more congested traffic, I drove too close to the car in front of me. My passenger kept informing me about my behavior and that I should stop doing it. I tried to keep my distance but I could not. I would always return to my usual driving behavior of driving too close. This cycle of driving too close and then keeping my distance continued throughout the drive back home.
Intervention
Later that day, my sister and I went shopping. During the drive, I asked her to do the same thing as this morning and she said she would. However, during the drive, I realized that I should be more conscious of my driving. I should be the one to inform myself that I was driving too close. Although, it is always helpful to have someone else acknowledge when you perform a behavior you want o change, it is more effective if you self witness your behavior and be conscious about your actions.
This time, I told myself that I would make the effort to recognize when I drive too close instead of having my passenger inform me. So during the drive, every time I drove too close I would say out loud "Jocelyn you are driving too close again; allow for a greater distance from the car in front of you". It was difficult to acknowledge when I drove too close, but every time I said it out loud, the longer I kept my distance and the less I drove too close.
For the next three days, whenever I drove, I would recognize when I drove too close and tell it to myself out loud. As a result the incidence of my driving too close decreased. Even my passenger was impressed at how infrequent I drove too close. However, there are still times when I would drive too close, but it is a habit that is slowly being modified.
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Although, I have written the report for this experiment, this experiment continues on as I try to self-modify my driving behavior on a daily basis. I wish that during the one week that I did this experiment that I have completely changed my behavior of driving too close, but I did not, even though I was successful at modifying my behavior several times. This experiment was of value to me because it provided the opportunity for me to change a behavior that I was so habituated to, yet, was a possible danger to myself, my passengers, and other drivers on the road. From this experiment I realize how important it is for me to acknowledge my mistakes or negative behaviors if I want to change them. There's the saying "We learn from our Mistakes", but how can we truly learn from our mistakes if we don't acknowledge it for ourselves and attribute the cause of the mistake to our actions. It is difficult to attribute blame or fault to ourselves, but the first step in modifying any behavior is to self recognize that behavior and admit to yourself the negative aspects of the behavior and why you need to change.
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A very basic yet often forgotten recommendation to future generations is to start early. Don't procrastinate! For this specific assignment, I would recommend that people be honest with themselves. Search within and recognize a behavior that you truly want to change. Admit to yourself your flaws, and think of ways modify them. It may not be easy at first, but the reward in the end is truly worthwhile. Lastly, have fun and enjoy yourself while doing this experiment.
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I thought that this experiment would be easy. How difficult would it be to change my driving behavior? As it turned out, it was a challenge for me to change my behavior. The most difficult part of it was acknowledging my flaw, telling myself that my behavior was wrong and that I could do better. My initial goal was to complete this experiment so that I could write the paper. However, as time went by and the more thought I gave to the experiment, my goals changed. I wanted to do this for myself. I had to take actions for my own behavior. I had my sister inform me whenever I drove too close, but I did not recognize my own behavior until I was willing to consciously evaluate my driving behaviors. At times, driving becomes habitual. I drive without paying much attention to my surroundings and behaviors. The turning point of this experiment was when I decided to consciously pay attention to my driving behaviors and recognize the behavior I was trying to change. It was not easy telling myself that I was driving too close and that it was wrong. Hey, I have been doing this throughout my driving life and now I was suppose to change it! But I made it my goal and took the effort to recognize my thoughts and behaviors while driving so that I would be able to modify my driving behavior.
