|
Traffic Psychology |
|
So what is Traffic Psychology all about?
The driving environment is a very common setting that most people experience either directly or indirectly on a daily basis. However, we often fail to consider how much of an impact our driving experiences can have on our everyday life.
A bad day driving can lead to a bad day at work, home, or ”play”. Frankly, negative experiences while in traffic (either as a passenger or driver) can ruin the rest of your day and influence how we think, feel, and act.
On the flip side, a bad day can make you more likely to react negatively when you get into traffic. When experiences are repeatedly negative, it can change our enduring traits and overall outlook. It’s a cyclical process. But in this respect, the driving environment plays an important, but often overlooked, role in developing who we are.
So what do you do?
Over the years we have looked at trait characteristics, like a vengeful attitude and a stressful personality, and how they influence dangerous driving behaviors like aggression and violence (if you’re interested in my take on “road rage”, see my research interest page).
We have looked at the ability to use prompt messages to encourage people to engage in more safe driving behaviors, like signaling turns and making complete stops at stop signs.
We have found that stress experienced while actually driving is related to greater problems or hassles from outside the driving environment, confirming that the our driving experience can be influenced by non-driving events.
Currently, we are developing a driving simulator to look at people’s natural perceptions of other drivers’ actions.
Also we are examining the extent that driver stress can lead to a bad day at work.
Finally, we are looking at cross cultural differences in how people react to driving conditions, such as stress and anger. The hope is to uncover some personal, situational, or cultural differences that might help reduce the negative aspects of driving.
|
|
If you’d like more information, |
