Road Rage Drivers

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One personality factor that can cause drivers to engage in road rage is having a “risk-taking” trait. According to Richard Dukes, “reckless driving produced road rage” (327). Those with a risk-taking trait often believe that accidents happen to others, ignorant of the consequences of having a ‘daredevil’ personality (Brewer 53). Because of such belief, this causes people that are willing to take risks to recklessly drive, which in return can transform into road rage. Additionally, as mentioned before, males tend to engage in road rage due to the social construct of having to have a ‘daredevil’ personality to ‘prove their manhood.’ The idea that risk-taking affects driving behavior strengthens with men having a higher tendency to engage in …show more content…
Attribution bias is an “individual’s inability to recognize their own mistakes, but overstresses the mistakes of others” (Ayar 130). People that have an attributional bias believe they have better driving skills than what they are truly capable of: “Studies show that motorists who perceive their driving abilities as nearly perfect are twice as likely to engage in aggressive driving than those who do not” (Ayar 130). Those who have hostile attribution bias tend to retaliate those who attempt to attack or hurt them (Sharkin). This relates to road rage since one might perceive an ambiguous gesture as a personal attack. Therefore, individuals attributed greater hostility to the other driver under unclear situations, eventually turning the hostility into road rage engagement. Additionally, scenarios that provoke the highest level of anger from the “victim” are when the “antagonist” appears to be both intentional and personal (Lawton and Nutter). Ambiguity can cause one driver to attribute the other driver differently; this could possibly cause the one driver to believe that they are the right one, while the other is the wrong …show more content…
Situational factors such as anonymity, prior events, uncontrollable driving conditions, and poor communication, contribute to road rage due to the driving environment or what is happening in the surrounding areas. Demographic factors such as gender, age, psychological disorders, and previous criminal convictions depend on a certain section of the population. Lastly, personality factors such as having a risk-taking trait, how people view driving, having a macho personality, and having an attributional bias occurs due to the driver’s character traits or how they perceive a situation. Multiple factors can also contribute to road rage due to another factor. Although driving may make one feel stress or angry, one should be aware of the potential factors that can escalate the chances of engaging road rage. That way, the grave outcomes would have a lower chance of
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