A new research from Hyundai Motor UK has discovered that women drivers are angrier than men when they’re behind the wheel.
The recent study that surveys 1,000 UK drivers found that 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, had to deal with a back-seat driver or were faced with a road user who failed to indicate. In all test scenarios, women were more likely to respond with anger than male drivers.
The experiment, conducted by Patrick Fagan, behavioural psychologist from Goldsmiths University London, ‘sense tested’ the 1,000 drivers to see how sound, sight, smell, touch and taste provoke emotional responses in different driving scenarios.
Explaining the results, Fagan commented, “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.”
The study found there are 2 dominant emotions when a driver gets behind the wheel. They are either happy or angry. When the researchers looked at what makes us happy behind the wheel, 84% of people said “empty roads”, 78% said “the countryside” and 69% said “the seaside”.
On top of that, the study reveals that if you want a man to open up, take him for a drive. Just under a third (29%) of men said they find it easier to have a conversation in the car. 14% added that a chat actually makes them a better driver.
54% of Brits said the thing that made them really happy in the car was singing – which explains why Carpool Karaoke has resonated with so many people these days. 8 out of 10 people nearly always listen to something while driving with Pop and Rock are the most popular genres they listen to.
Source: Hyundai UK
