Duck. And. Cover.
In these politically correct times, where microaggressions and mansplaining — perhaps even manspreading — can ruin a career faster than you can say “culturally appropriated Halloween costume,” Hyundai has done the unthinkable. The automaker conducted a study to find out which gender fares better when it comes to anger behind the wheel, and the fairer sex lost.
Divisive? Perhaps, but the study also reveals the many things that unite us all.
Hyundai Motor UK commissioned Patrick Fagan, a behavioral psychologist from Goldsmiths University London, to test the responses of 1,000 British drivers to a number of driving scenarios.
The results? On average, women are 12 percent angrier behind the wheel. When dealing with a backseat driver, the female test subjects proved 14 percent angrier than men, and 13 percent angrier when dealing with motorists who fail to use their turn signal. Hey, maybe it’s just Brits.
The study blames deep-seated anthropological issues, which may or may not be offensive. According to Hyundai, “Researchers found driving sparked ancient ‘defence’ instincts from when humans were hunter-gatherers.”
“These evolutionary traits kicked in during the test when women were either undertaken, shouted or beeped at,” the automaker claims.
While no one wants to have their gender impugned, even when it comes to driving, can an offended person argue with science? (Our money’s on “yes.”)
According to Fagan:
Psychologically, women score higher than men on emotional and verbal intelligence, and on the personality trait of neuroticism. Evolutionary theory suggests our early female ancestors had to develop an acute sense of danger for anything that threatened them and their young if their cave was undefended while men were out hunting. That ‘early warning system’ instinct is still relevant today, and women drivers tend to be more sensitive to negative stimuli, so get angry and frustrated quicker.
Road rage, of course, affects drivers of all genders. Every crowded freeway features at least one motorist, man or woman, taking his or her hands off the wheel in frustration, uttering something along the lines of, “Why would you do that? What the HELL is wrong with you? God!”
The study went beyond the differences between the genders, exploring issues that unite all of humankind. According to test subjects, personal freedom is still the main appeal of driving (51 percent), while mobility comes in at just 19 percent.
For men, sitting behind the wheel makes it more likely that they’ll pour out their soul, with 29 percent saying they find making conversation easier while driving. What makes all drivers happy? The open road, according to 84 percent of the participants. Another 78 percent specified “the countryside.” The top in-car activity that makes British drivers happy is singing, perhaps to Adele, or maybe some god-awful pop act from the 90s.
Speaking of music, the study also found that eight out of 10 drivers continuously play tunes while behind the wheel. The top tracks for driving enjoyment? Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell and Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
Hyundai claims it developed an industry-first Driving Emotion Test (DET) for use on its human guinea pigs, employing facial coding technology, eye tracking analysis, galvanic skin response and a heartrate monitor.
[Image: zlady/Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)]
“Don’t drive angry!”
Just hold your thoughts for a minute…my popcorn’s not quite ready yet.
Don’t get mad, get even.
I hate pc people just as much as the next guy, but i don’t understand how the conclusion of this study could make people angry or be considered non pc
It’s not really not PC, it’s just that it’s “offensive” to women to tell the truth about their shortcomings. Thou Shalt Not Offend.
It’s PC to say women are better than men in every way. This study suggests otherwise.
“It’s PC to say women are better than men in every way.”
What damnfool decided that ?! .
-Nate
Let’s sew those insurance rates follow!
Sew the pants off ’em!
They’re easier to sew when they’re off.
My niece had amongst her first words: “Step on the gas and go, DAMN IT!”
Given how high and mighty her mother is, that was freaking hilarious.
That reminds me of a story I heard about a local family who was generally pious except for their salty language when provoked. Their little daughter was just at the age where she was beginning to crawl up and down flights of stairs on her own. One morning, the little girl got about 2/3s of the way down the flight of stairs when her mother heard the toddler say, “Sh*t…forgot my nook!”
“Who the %^#* put the steering wheel on the wrong side?”
Her wedding ring too! Arrrghhhh!!!!!!
Wedding ring on the right hand, so she’s an angry lesbian driver.
Or German, Austrian, Polish, …? Convention in the UK is to wear it on the left hand, while a number of other countries wear it on the other hand.
The other possibility is that this is actually a stock photo of a driver in a LHD car that someone cleverly flipped since it was for a UK study :-)
Based on the shadows in the picture, I wonder if we could forensically ascertain if it is indeed a flipped image. Assuming, of course, that it was taken in the northern hemisphere. It is very unlikely that it was taken in the southern hemisphere: everyone knows, of course, that Australians wear their wedding rings while standing on their heads and when they flush the toilet, the water swirls the other way.
Yes, everyone, I am BS-ing the B&B.
*sigh*
This makes me pine for the textual stylings of a Jack Baruth. His loss diminishes us all.
My wife’s calmer than I am behind the wheel, so it doesn’t apply in our case. although, I used to drive like a bat out of hell, but these days my wife is always wanting me to drive faster.
Here’s a list of my four favorite things to yell when I’m in the car alone and I get angry at other drivers! I do not do this with others in the car.
1) You f*cking idiot.
2) Are you kidding me?!
3) Jesus f*ck you’re a moron.
4) Go ahead, let’s do that.
Those definitely fly out of my mouth on a daily basis. My more specific favorites are:
1) Don’t do it, …. You did it. Wow.
2) Get the f*ck out of the left lane!
3) A Toyota/Subaru holding up traffic?! Surprise!
4) Get the f*ck off of your phone!
The question is not so much anger, but what you do with that anger. Men are more physically violent.
I think I hear the sirens of the PC police coming for them……..
Let’s see… Trollish, click-baity headline… Check the byline… Yep, Steph.
@TTAC: I know this kind of thing generates revenue, but this sort of posting really feels like readership-baiting. I’m admittedly feeding it by replying here, but I think this deserves a little airing.
This comes straight from a Hyundai press release that has been widely circulated. It seems to be legit enough.
While even Hyundais’ press release is a bit baiting, that doesn’t excuse the the headline and the first two paragraphs, which are effectively begging for responses.
It would also be nice to see some details of the study (which are hard to find) or at least a link to Hyundai’s own press release (www.hyundaipressoffice.co.uk/release/805/)
I don’t mind being baited, but I’d like to see a little more artfulness. I left Autoblog years back because it resorted to pretty much nothing but this style of blogging.
The documentation is lacking, but most blogs and news articles don’t bother to dig beyond the initial press release.
I don’t know what “12% angrier” means, but I don’t see why the general conclusion would be surprising. Cars tend to be an equalizer, making weak people feel stronger because of the illusion of protection that the car affords. People display behaviors in their cars that they would never have the guts to do to your face.
Agree, psar. TTAC has drifted disappointingly in this direction.
Ehhh, owlways complighnin’.
In my bookmarks side bar Jalopnik is just below TTAC, in the not too distant future they will likely become one in the same. The new guard all seem to have the same shtick.
Might be true, my Sweet never gets rsttled / angry behind the wheel unlike me .
PC B.S. is just that : _equal_ yes ~ the _same_ no, not ever .
-Nate
I try to refrain from exhibiting , road rage. A one finger salute , can quickly escalate to an assault, or worse , like getting your head blown off.
No one can hear you scream. :)
I’ve opted to provide a friendly wave. I’m cursing them under my breath, but they often think I’m taking blame for whatever they think happened. It’s amazing how often that turns potential road rage into a non-issue.
Meh, it’s a study from the UK about 1,000 British drivers. I would think this would vary from region to region.
If you read the text of the argument – the reason is not regional but rather deep-seated from the time when human(oids) were hunter-gatherers. This is not culture-specific.
I am familiar with this. I have been informed that if she is angry it is because some male aggravated her and it is his fault.
Especially ones that sit not behind but under the wheel
No shit? I don’t know about the way that the other fellas on this site dangle, but having met my wife I can confirm.
“The top in-car activity that makes British drivers happy is singing, perhaps to Adele, or maybe some god-awful pop act from the 90s.”
I guess it is time to admit to myself that I am not in the top percentage of drivers…
Just two Saturdays ago on the 605 freeway in southern California, I had a beeyatch behind me driving solo in a Ford Mustang. Driving carefully in my Plum Crazy Challenger, I had applied my brakes as the car in front suddenly slowed. She had to drop her cellphone to get a hold of her steering wheel!
Then she veered over the double yellow lines into the carpool lane and cut right in front of me. I guess the slut saved about one second of time.
I guess wordpress doesn’t censor THAT word…
Wait ~
You mean I can tell a Woman’s sexual proclivities by her use of a cell ‘phone ?! .
I wish I’d known this back when I was dating .
-Nate
Back then the equivalent would have been how she used her pen and ink well at her writing table. :D
Touche Cory ! =8-) .
-Nate