Three horrors await Americans who get behind the wheel of a car for a family road trip this summer: the spiraling price of gas, the usual choruses of “are-we-there-yet?” — and the road rage of fellow drivers.
Divine intervention might be needed for the first two problems, but science has discovered a solution for the third.
Watch out for cars with bumper stickers.
. . .It does not seem to matter whether the messages on the stickers are about peace and love — “Visualize World Peace,” “My Kid Is an Honor Student” — or angry and in your face — “Don’t Mess With Texas,” “My Kid Beat Up Your Honor Student.”
. . .“The more markers a car has, the more aggressively the person tends to drive when provoked,” Szlemko said. “Just the presence of territory markers predicts the tendency to be an aggressive driver.”
It seems bumper stickers are pretty much the equivalent of dogs urinating on trees and fire hydrants. It’s a way people stake out their territory. The more stickers, the more the person needs to claim the space. It’s actually quite interesting.
Thanks to Jill for the link — the article confirms her take on an incident reported here last year.