Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Green Means Go!
Examining the effects of car stereotyping on road rage
Freny Dessai and Bryan Kennedy
Santa Rosa Junior College
Professor Lynch
May 17, 2001
Green Means Go
drivers assume the behaviors of drivers around them will correspond with the types of
cars they are driving. It follows that the driver of a more aggressive sports car such as a
BMW would be stereotyped as driving more aggressively, while the driver of a less
aggressive vehicle such as a Volvo would be considered more friendly and courteous.
Leicester in England, this process plays an influential role in car accident reports, in that
witnesses tend to inflate the pre-accident speed of sports cars more than they do sedans.
Based on the results of his yet unpublished study, Davies suggests that “drivers
sometimes make judgments of the likely behavior and intent of other road users based
upon stereotypes of drivers and their cars.” Driver aggression includes the wide range of
There have been several studies conducted regarding road-rage and driver
aggression. Fewer studies, however, have dealt with the issue of car stereotyping and how
influenced by the status of the car being driven (Doob & Gross, 1968). The participants
for this experiment were introductory psychology students at a college in North Dakota.
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At a designated stop sign, a male confederate who drove either a high or low status
vehicle honked at the participant. The following actions of the participant were
and horn honk duration and latency. This study showed no sign that the sex of the driver
had any effect on driver aggression, but a link was found between the type of car being
driven and the behavior of the participants, showing that car stereotyping was indeed
taking place.
These car stereotypes are shaped by the mass media in their depiction of cars in
The advertising industry, in their attempt to target a specific consumer market, tend to
oversimplify the product they are pitching by presenting images that appeal only to a
certain type of buyer. These advertising images then work to shape our stereotypes about
the cars we see on the road. In the case of the Mazda Miata, as noted by Bob Garfield of
Advertising Age magazine (1998), the car is advertised as being quicker than it actually
is. Mazda, in their attempt to attract the younger market, project an image of the Miata
that is speedy and aggressive. Because of this, the driver of a Miata would generally be
assumed by other drivers to be more aggressive, whether or not this is actually the case.
Moreover, Connell and Joint (1996) suggest that our cars become a “statement of
ourselves,” in that their shape, size, prestige, and value become an expression of how we
wish others to perceive us. They assert that this is so because a car is such a major
purchase in one’s life, represents one’s access to freedom, and is involved in much of the
one’s livelihood.
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further define aggression by distinguishing between violent acts of road rage and mild
aggressive behavior. Their results suggest that mild aggressive acts are exhibited by most
people, whereas acts of violent road rage are typically confined to habitually violent
individuals. This was expanded on in a study by Lajunen and Parkerb (1999) on the
psychological triggers of violent aggression. They concluded that, while there are
exceptions, aggressive drivers tend to act more aggressively in their daily lives.
A recent study on red-light running behavior found that more than a third of the
observed traffic light cycles involved at least one red-light violation (Porter & England,
2000). It was also noted that more red-light violations occurred with higher traffic
volumes. The fact that such a large number of red light running behavior was observed,
especially during times of high congestion, suggests that many drivers put their progress
on the roadways ahead of the safety of those around them. Naatanen and Summala (1976)
expand on this idea by offering that obstruction of forward progress is precisely what
leads drivers to frustration and rage. They suggest that this link is not confined only to
From all accounts, incidents of driver aggression are on the rise. A study of
10,037 incidents of road rage collected by Mizell (1997) for the AAA Foundation of
Highway Safety from 1990 to 1996, found that the amount of reported incidents rose by
Association in 1996 found that 62% of people believe that other drivers on the roadways
However, its cause remains largely unknown and little is being done to combat it (Byrne,
2000; Mizell, 1997). The purpose of this study is not to find a solution to this epidemic,
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but rather, to shed light on one of the many triggers of driver aggression: car stereotyping.
stoplight recently changed to green. The researchers would then wait and record the
number of seconds it took for the participant to respond to the delay in the form of a
honk. Those quicker to the horn were assumed to be conducting themselves in a more
aggressive manner than those who honked more slowly or not at all. The test car being
driven by the researchers was varied between a sports car convertible and a small sedan,
the purpose of which was to determine whether or not participant driver aggression
The researchers also noted the following variables: the sex and approximate age
of the driver, whether or not there was a passenger in the car, and the type of car being
driven. These variables were secondary to the main purpose of the experiment and were
noted in order to find other patterns that may influence driver aggression.
Method
Participants
drivers were selected non-systematically on the five days of study, as dictated by the
natural flow of traffic, and were not intentionally made aware of the study. Only drivers
Materials
During the course of the experiment, two researchers drove inside both a 2000
model four-door Volkswagen Jetta sedan and a 1996 model two-door Mazda Miata sports
coupe. It was assumed that the coupe would convey more aggressive vehicular
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stereotypes than the sedan would convey (Byrne, 2000). Observations were made by both
researchers using both mirror and direct rear-window observation and were recorded by
used to measure time; however, all results were rounded to the nearest whole second to
In the course of conducting the study, the researchers drove the test vehicle up to a
red stop light. The driver of the vehicle immediately behind was accepted as a participant,
and the following characteristics were recorded: gender (m/f), age group (<30, 30-50,
>50), type of car (sport, luxury, sedan, SUV, truck, other), and whether or not there were
any human passengers within the car. When the light changed from red to green, the test
vehicle was kept motionless (signaling to the participant a lack of attention to the light
change) and a stopwatch was used to determine how long it took for the participant to
honk. It is assumed that more aggressive participants will honk more quickly than their
less aggressive counterparts. In some cases, it was observed that the participant was not
paying attention and thus had not noticed the light change, in which case the recorded
time represented the latency to honk, minus the latency to attention. Once a honk was
heard or after a maximum of 15 seconds had elapsed, the test vehicle was driven through
the intersection.
participants and the potential for reactive road rage against the test car, the driving
researcher hand-signaled a “thank you” wave to the participant immediately after the
Observations were not recorded if: the stoplight did not turn red (the test car was
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never artificially stopped at a green light), the test vehicle was not the first in line, or no
participant vehicle had pulled up behind the test car before the light turned green. In 3
cases, it was determined that the honk had been issued by a car behind the participant
The study was conducted over five days during March and April, observing
Tuesday, and one on Thursday. The Miata test car was randomly established as the test
car for the first session on Sunday, March 11th, and the cars were systematically rotated
for each subsequent session (based on available test days due to weather): The Jetta on
Tuesday, March 20th and Sunday, April 1st; the Miata again on Tuesday, April 3rd and
Thursday, April 26th (the second Miata week-day test was required to gather additional
data for comparison). In the study by Kendrick and MacFarlane (1986), it was found that
outside temperature does influence the amount of aggression displayed. So, the weather
of all test days was purposely confined to sunny and temperate (>65°), in order to reduce
the effects that weather might have had on the mood of the participants. The test sessions
were conducted between the hours of 1 and 5 in the afternoon to avoid rush hour and
noontime traffic congestion. This decision was based on the results of a study
(Wiesenthal, Hennessy & Totten, 2000) that concluded that higher congestion levels led
avoid the potential risks as a result of acts driver vengeance. This behavior is defined by
roadways. It is probable that the artificial delay of movement at a stoplight might incite
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such behavior, and would put both the participant and researchers at undue risk. Test
intersections were all within the Santa Rosa city limits, a small city in Northern
California. While great care was taken to evenly distribute the intersection locations used
during each session, due to the many variables that prevented the researchers from
knowing which intersection was to be used until it had been selected by natural
Results
Null Hypothesis: The mean number of seconds it takes for the participant to respond in
the form of a honk to the Miata test vehicle is greater (>) than the mean number of
Alternative Hypothesis (claim): The mean number of seconds it takes for the participant
to respond in the form of a honk to the Miata test vehicle is less (<) than the mean
number of seconds it takes for the participant to respond to the Jetta vehicle.
Calculations:
According to these results we can reject the null hypothesis; there is enough
evidence to support the claim that the mean number of seconds it takes for the participant
to honk when the test vehicle is a Miata is less than the mean number of seconds it takes
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for the participant to honk when the test vehicle is a Jetta.
Discussion
The results of this experiment support the hypothesis, which states that more
aggressive vehicles will induce increased levels of driver aggression. After completing 70
test runs, the results showed a link between the test car being used and the length of the
During this study the researchers were confronted with various confounding
variables. First and foremost, it is acknowledged that the test car selection was limited to
the cars immediately available to the researchers. A follow-up study conducted using an
even more aggressive-looking sports car such as a BMW Z3 compared to an even less
aggressive sedan such as a Volvo station wagon might allow for an even greater disparity
to emerge in the results. Despite this limitation, it is assumed that further research in the
area of car stereotyping as it relates to driver aggression will support the findings of this
study. Secondly, time constraints disallowed the researchers from collecting the breadth
of data originally planned. It is also noted that in each experimental trial the driver of the
test car was male and the passenger, female. Since the sex of the driver was obscured in
the Jetta but observable in the Miata, gender bias may have had an effect on the results.
To account for this possible confound, future researchers may wish to systematically vary
the gender of the driver or choose two vehicles of similar visual obstruction.
Due to time constraints and a limited number of researchers, the study took place
only in Santa Rosa, California, a small city with a population of 150,000 (Source: U.S.
congested city, would yield quicker honk times and may change the results. Additional
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testing in other regions may work to increase the external validity of the findings of this
experiment. The researchers did try to limit the number of confounds related to
congestion by conducting the study at approximately the same time of day (between the
hours of 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.) and on similar days of the week, and attempted to minimize
the effect that weather might have on the results by limiting test days to temperate
weather.
In 12 of the 70 runs, the participant did not honk after 15 seconds, in which case
the test car was driven away from the intersection to minimize traffic disruption. While
the researchers feel this figure is significant, especially since twice the number of drivers
did not honk in response to the Jetta's delay than the Miata's, there are many other
explanations of such a result. In informal questions asked of several people about why
they might not honk at a stoplight, some suggested that they feel that honking at a
trigger for driver aggression. In general, people are less patient to the actions of vehicles
based on messages conveyed by the mass media and commercials. When one thinks of a
sports car, such as the Mazda Miata used in this study, the first thing that typically comes
to mind is that it goes fast. This is reinforced by commercials depicting the Miata
speeding along a race track. On the other hand, a sedan such as the Volkswagen Jetta is
typically portrayed as a family car and is linked to stability and safety, not speed.
one's social image, partly because of the enormous amount of time we spend in them
each day, but also as a result of how advertising portrays them. We are taught through the
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mass media that our car not only projects an image of ourselves in the eyes of others, but
is also capable of changing this preexisting image. This is similar to the way that
advertisers construe clothing. These messages lead to the formation of stereotypes about
what type of person drives a particular type of car. Thus, drivers tend to assume that the
drivers around them will behave in a manner consistent with the car they are driving,
unconsciously respond with less patience to cars they perceive as more aggressive. While
far from conclusive, the results of this study suggest that this automatic process is taking
Driver aggression and road rage is a serious concern in today's society. By better
understanding what triggers driver aggression, we can work to reduce its occurrence.
Stereotyping, in all its many forms, will forever be a part of human society, but can be
reduced with knowledge and information. When people are made aware of their own
stereotypes, and are given tools to help reduce them, the cycle can be stopped. Based on
the results of this experiment, it is hypothesized that car stereotyping, and thus a trigger
awareness. As Andrew Ferguson of Time magazine puts it: while everyone seems to have
an idea for a cure for road rage, “is there a cure for thinking everyone else on the road is
an idiot?”
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References
Connell, D. and Joint, M. (1996). Driver Aggression: AAA Foundation for Traffic
Safety. Online. Internet. 20 Apr. 2001. Available:
http://www.aaafts.org/pdf/agdr3study.pdf
Garfield, B. (1998). Mazda gives Miata unnecessary muscle. Advertising Age. Online.
Internet. 21 Apr. 2001. Available: http://www.adage.com/
Lajunein, T., and Parkerb, D. (1999). Are aggressive people aggressive drivers? A study
of the relationship between self-reported general aggressiveness, driver anger
and aggressive driving. Accident Annual Preview 2001, 33(2): 243-55.
Mizell, L. (1997). Aggressive Driving: AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Online.
Internet. 20 Apr. 2001. Available: http://www.aaafts.org/pdf/agdr3study.pdf
Naatanen, R. and Summala, H. (1976). Road User Behavior and Traffic Accidents.
Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing Co.
U.S. Census Bureau. Current Population Survey 2000. Online. Internet. 4 Apr. 2001.
Available: http://factfinder.census.gov/
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Wiesenthal, D., Hennessy, D., and Totten, B. (2000). The Influence of Music on Driver
Stress. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 30(8): 1709-19.
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