Resistance to traffic psychology; to explore this issue further, one
must first understand what traffic psychology is. Traffic Psychology is
a discipline of psychology which studies and tries to develop
modification techniques to re-make the driving personalities of all
drivers. Who can be a traffic psychologist? Each and every driver on
the road should be a traffic psychologist because the modification
techniques must be implemented on a personal level: in other words, every
driver is responsible for improving his or her driving
personality. To learn more about traffic psychology click here and you will
find the explanation given by our local traffic expert, Dr. Leon James.
Is traffic psychology really necessary? Yes, because it offers great
benefits, such as decreasing accidents and people's indifference to
others while on the road. On the road, people are virtually anonymous;
thus they are not concerned with human kindness, but instead, with their
own agendas. Most drivers are out for number one and don't care who gets
in their way; they don't care if they threaten the drivers around them.
Because of this in-humanity on the road, it is necessary for the
discipline of traffic psychology to be introduced to and implemented by
the general populace.
The purpose of this paper is to take two drivers and record and try to
overcome their resistance to traffic psychology. It is hypothesized that
everyone, to a certain extent, will show resistance to this topic. The
resistance stems from people's natural tendency to avoid change. Using
traffic psychology involves self-observation and implementing a
self-modification program to try and alter a troubling aspect of one's
driving persona. This process of identifying and changing a problem area
seems easy enough on the surface, but most people are in denial about
their own faults; they feel they are great drivers and do not need to
change. Thus, we have resistance.
I chose two subjects who I know and have driven with on a number of
occasions. Because of my familiarity with their driving habits, I felt
it would be easier for me to help them choose a target behavior.
However, due to my familiarity, I did not feel I could observe them
objectively, thus I had them conduct self-observations.
My first
subject, Frank, is a 25 year old male soldier in the United States Army.
I do know this subject very well because he is my husband. I feel he
could use a lot of help from traffic psychology, because a lot of times
when he drives he scares me. I also know he'll make a good study for
resistance because whenever I comment on his driving he tells me to close
my eyes and not to worry about it. I know he feels he drives perfectly
fine the way he is. The one behavior I will suggest to him for his target
behavior is waiting too long before he brakes. He just zooms right up on
the car in front and waits until the last minute to slam on his brakes.
I will propose this option to him and see what he says.
My second subject is a friend of mine, but not as well known as my
first subject. Lori is a 27 year old hairdresser and mother of one 7
year old son. I have known Lori for years, but drive with her less
frequently than I do with subject one. I will ask her what she feels she
needs to work on, but if she gets stumped, I will suggest for her to work
on her speeding.
I will approach my two subjects with the same question,"Is there any
aspect of your driving you feel needs improvement?" If they come up
empty handed I will propose my suggestions and monitor any resistance I
receive.
MEETING #1: I decided to approach Frank after dinner one evening and ask
him to
help me with my psychology homework. Once he asked me how he could help,
I would start broaching the subject lightly; I didn't want to set off his
defensive reactions yet. The night arrived and i took my opportunity.
After I asked for his help, Frank responded, "How Can I help
you?" I assured him that it was possible for him to help me and then
began to explain how I needed to help someone modify their driving
behavior using traffic psychology, but, before I could finish my
explanation, he was already rolling his eyes. (A clear sign of
resistance.) I took a deep breath and reminded myself that he was now a
subject not my husband. I asked him why he rolled his eyes. He
replied,"Because, my driving is fine, just because it scares you doesn't
mean I can't drive." I assured him that by suggesting he be one of my
subjects, i did not mean to imply that he was a terrible driver, but
instead, that, like the rest of us, probably has an area or two that
could use improvement. This explanation seemed to put him a little more
at ease and he agreed to help me.
Next I asked him what area of his driving did he feel he needed to
improve. He thought for a long time and finally answered, "I don't
know." Now I offered my suggestion of braking a little sooner when
people are stopped in front of him and he agreed that he did brake late,
every once in awhile, so he would try to modify that behavior. I
explained the procedure I had decided to follow to conduct this experiment
and told him that, although I see him every day, i would only discuss the
project on the assigned meeting days. I also told him that if there was
a problem then we could discuss it in between. He agreed to these terms
and said he would begin his observations the next day.
MEETING #2: One week after our first discussion, we sat down and
began to discuss his observations and ideas for his self-modification
plan. I asked if he had noted any incidents of the targeted behavior and
he reluctantly replied yes. His reluctance to admit this behavior is
another example of resistance because he doesn't want to admit to himself
that he has an imperfection. I asked him how often in that week he had
noted the behavior and he replied, "Three times, BUT it wasn't always my
fault. Sometimes they just slam on their brakes and you don't have time to
brake slowly."(Still resisting) I said that it is sometimes the fault of
another driver, but we shouldn't shift all the responsibility. He
agreed. I told him it is good to learn about one's faults because then
you could work to change them for the better. I also said that changing
your driving behaviors not only helps you, but also all other drivers. He
thought that sounded a little far fetched, but still, he was thinking
about it.
Next we discussed a plan for changing his targeted behavior.
I asked him if, during his observations, he noticed what might trigger
this behavior. He simply said,"No, that's just the way I drive."
This explanation, again stemmed from the resistance to change; if there
is no cause for the behavior, how can he change it.
Then we brain-stormed for awhile to come up with a plan for the
modification process. I asked him if perhaps the 'way he drives' was
caused by a lack of paying close attention to the cars in front. He
responded favorably, thus we found the source and would now have the
means to eliminate the behavior.
The modification plan we decided upon was fairly simple;Frank would
begin to pay more attention to the brake lights of the car ahead of him.
To help increase this awareness and consequently remove the undesired
behavior, Frank would say aloud "I see brake lights" and at the same
time move his foot to the brake pedal. Because he needs greater
awareness of the other cars, saying what he sees aloud will awaken his
thought process and perhaps he will react sooner.
MEETING #3:This was just a quick meeting to see how the plan was
working and to see if any alterations or motivation was necessary. I
simply asked Frank how it was going. His answer was that he felt foolish
talking to himself in the car, especially if there were other people in
the car; thus, he had not been making his statement to himself very
often. I asked if he had done it at all and he said a few times. I
asked if it helped those times and he said yes. I suggested that we
alter the plan a little, that instead of talking, he could make a slight
hand gesture. He agreed to that and vowed he would try it for the rest
of the week. I knew the alteration had to be to another overt behavior
because we were trying to increase his awareness.
MEETING #4: This, our final meeting, was to assess the success of the
experiment and evaluate the resistance given by the subject. I simply
asked Frank how he felt about the whole two weeks. He replied that he
felt awkward and silly doing the modification techniques, but that it did
help him to alter his behavior when he did use them. He stated that he
probably would not continue to use the process and would slip back into
his old behaviors. "It was fine to do it for a couple of weeks to help
you, but I really don't think it's necessary." I again reminded him how
he would be helping to make the streets a more safe and friendlier place
for all drivers and that he had a moral responsibility to other humans to
try and do this. He was clearly resistant to change until the end
because he just laughed a little at my statement and said he was
through. Changing one's behaviors is a difficult process because it
involves the willingness to delve into your inner depths to uncover the
motivations behind the actions. Frank was obviously unwilling to go to
this extent, at this time, for his driving behaviors.
MEETING #1:I decided to approach Lori one day after Frank, so I would
not have to do both on the same day. Similarly to Frank, I approached
Lori by asking her to help me with my psychology homework. She looked
much more eager to help, than did Frank, so I dove right into my
explanation of the project. When I asked her if she could think of a
driving behavior she'd like to change, she answered,"I can think of a
bunch, but how 'bout we try speeding because I don't need to be getting
any tickets, but it's hard for me to slow down." So far she was not
displaying any resistance to traffic psychology. She will make a good
comparison to Frank. I explained to her how the project would take place
over a two week period and that we would have three other meetings to
discuss her progress. I again explained to her that although we'd
probably see one another in between, we would not discuss the project
unless she needed help. I told her that for the first week she was to
make objective observations of her behavior and take note of when she
engages in the target behavior.
MEETING #2: One week later... we met again. This time we were to
discuss her findings and try and formulate a plan for modification.
I asked Lori how everything was going and she said fine, but that she
didn't always remember to observe and note her behavior. I asked if she
did it most of the time and she said, "Yes, it was just once in awhile
when I was really preoccupied with something else that I realized that I'd
forgotten to observe myself." I explained that that is a normal reaction
and what we are trying to avoid; we want her to focus more on driving
and be aware of her actions, so as to be able to better herself as a
driver.
I then asked if she observed any incidents of the targeted behavior
this past week. She said she had, but probably not as much as she
usually would speed because every time she looked at the speedometer to
make her note of her speed, if she saw the needle climbing or already
high, she would automatically slow down. I told her that, once we become
aware of an action consciously, it becomes much easier to alter that
behavior. Then I told her we might have already found her
self-modification procedure; she should continue to look at the
speedometer to alert herself to the speed she is traveling. If she did
this periodically while driving, then she should be able to control her
behavior. I also asked her if she noticed the situations she was in or
how she was feeling when she sped because this might shed light on the
motivation behind her speed. She said she hadn't really noticed much
except that she was usually alone and on a road with little or no
traffic. She also noted that she never speeds when she has her son in
the car. It seems that her care for others hinders her from excessive
speed, but once set free from people, she takes off.
MEETING #3: This was too be a really short meeting with Lori because
she was doing well with her observations and trying to modify herself.
She was a bit discouraged because she was not always successful in
looking at the speedometer and slowing down. I assured her that this was
to be expected because it is very difficult to change a behavior and in
just the few days she had been attempting to do so a few set-backs were
to be expected. She went off again to finish out the week.
MEETING #4:I asked Lori how she felt she did over the last two weeks.
She replied that she felt good about the experiment and that taking
notice of her actions was really starting to help her change for the
better. She was very pleased with the two weeks. I asked her how she
felt about changing her behavior and she replied that it didn't bother
her that much. She did mention that a couple times she felt her pride
swell and she wanted to try and stop trying to change herself when she
was already a good driver. She said, however, that those feelings didn't
last very long, especially if she saw or heard about an accident because
she thought to herself,"That could have been me."
A conclusion drawn from such a limited and biased sample cannot be
generalized to the major population, but it can serve its learning
purpose for this class. My first subject was extremely resistant to
changing his behavior; he felt threatened by the implication that he was
not a good driver. The thought of change violated his self-image. The
motivation of changing for the good of the human race was not successful
in rousing a positive response either. Frank's attitude is that it is
better to be an offensive driver rather than a facilitative, or even a
defensive driver. Because he has this resistance deep within his
character, it will take some time and tremendous effort on his part to
change. Lori, on the other hand, seems much more willing to change for
the better. She realizes that altering her behavior can benefit herself
as well as others, by staying out of accidents and making the road
safer. Although she had much less resistance, that natural human
characteristic did pop up once or twice. She, however, was better able
to quench her resistance because she had the over all desire to change
her behavior. All in all I feel that resistance to changing oneself is a
natural reaction because we all suffer from the delusion(to a certain
extent) that we are perfect the way we are. From time to time we will
find things we wish to change about ourselves, but if another were to
suggest those same changes to us, our defenses would automatically rise.
This is why change comes about more readily when a person decides it is
necessary and it is time to change all on their own.
