Does Driving Style reveal character?
Does behaviour change if nobody can see you?
Driving through town earlier today, I twice witnessed a driver placing their vehicle when making a turn such that others could not get past. Had they positioned themselves in the manner taught by Driving Schools, traffic flow would not have been impeded.
These examples of selfish behaviour set me to thinking: does driving style reveal aspects of a person’s character which might otherwise take several meetings to uncover?
I recall my father muttering under his breath that ‘some people need to take an intelligence test’ before being allowed to drive on the open road. I was not even a teenager then, so didn’t really understand what he was on about. But those incidents this morning reminded me.
When were you last cut up by an impatient and aggressive driver? Did they pull in causing you to brake to avoid a collision? Perhaps it was the same person who pushes into the front of the line at the supermarket with a faux apology. “I’ve only got a couple of items, mate”, and then proceeds to unload more than a dozen, some of which don’t scan properly.
If you start to protest, likely the individual will unleash a string of reasons justifying their poor behaviour: “I’m late for a meeting”, maybe. Or perhaps a combative, “But I’ve been waiting over there longer than you.” Or possibly the more confrontational, “Yeah? So what are you going to do about it?”
Once I’d settled myself back home with a soothing cup of hot coffee, further pondering extended this stream of thought into other environments. Does a person’s immediate surrounding change their behaviour towards others? Sheltered inside a motor car, drivers are cut off from the outside world. You may be familiar with the truism that so-called ‘Keyboard warriors’ feel free to type aggressive and antagonistic communications on social media which they wouldn’t dream of saying in person.
I don’t believe it’s a matter of being objectively scared to say hostile things directly to a person. Rather that the insulation of being behind a screen or inside a motor car changes peoples’ behaviours. They don’t think about it. Thoughts emerge from their Lizard brain without modification. In these places, the apparent risk to themselves of direct interaction is removed. Guard rails of normal social interfacing are absent, so they are free to revert to the Law of the Jungle. They may not have that conscious thought, but that is how they behave. ‘I’m alright, Jack’ is the operative phrase. And when they behave like this in the protected environment, perhaps that behaviour is repeated elsewhere. So their habitual treatment of fellow citizens has been permanently modified.
Is the veneer of Civilisation so thin?
Back in 1967, an English Zoologist, Dr Desmond Morris, published The Naked Ape’ asserting several evolutionary theories about men and women. He concentrated mainly on particular features of human physical development compared with our simian ancestors, but did touch on some behavioural differences. His work was long before computers were invented, but I’m sure he would have plenty to say about these modern-day phenomena.
All that I have highlighted above can be labelled as ‘societal changes’. Oldies voice opinions between themselves like, “Young people nowadays…” and “It wasn’t like that in my day.”
But societies do change over time. There have always been thugs and displays of oafish behaviour. Many people care not for others. I have always thought of myself as a caring person, but I had to confess to my Writers’ Group recently that I fear I’ve become inured to the daily horrors and outrages streaming through our televisions, radios and computers. Events which might have shocked me twenty years ago barely hold my attention. I used to assume everyone I met would treat me well and act honourably. Now I feel stupid for clinging to that belief for so many years. There are still such people, I’m delighted to say, but it’s no longer true as a general rule.
During the day, I accumulate a mental bucket of irritation and annoyance. I empty it in the evenings by directing my ire at the creatures who wreak damage such as this:
