Provoked driver aggression and status: a field study

• Published in: Transportation research. Part F, Traffic psychology and behaviour Traffic psychology and behaviour, 2000-09, Vol.3 (3), p.167-179
• Main Authors: McGarva, Andrew R, Steiner, Michelle
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aggression; aggressive driving; Driver behavior; Field experiment; Gender differences; Horn honking; Physiological arousal; Provocation; Road rage; traffic safety
• ISSN: 1369-8478; 1873-5517
• DOI: 10.1016/S1369-8478(00)00023-1

Male and female students enrolled in introductory psychology at a small public liberal arts university in North Dakota, USA volunteered for the present field experiment. Driving their own vehicles, participants followed directions given by an accompanying experimenter. At a predetermined stop sign, participants were honked and gestured at by a male confederate who drove either a low or high status vehicle. Various aggressive responses to provocation were measured, including rate of acceleration, duration of vocalization, presence of nonverbal gestures, and horn honk duration and latency. The results are discussed in the context of Doob and Gross's (A.N. Doob and A.E. Gross, Journal of Social Psychology 76 (1968) 213–218.) “horn-honking” study in which participant drivers were frustrated by high or low status drivers. In the present study, provocation rather than frustration was used to elicit aggressive responding. Participant drivers accelerated more quickly relative to a baseline measurement in the low status condition. No gender differences in driver aggression were observed. It was concluded that instrumental aggression rather than affective responding is influenced by status.