- People who perceive their car as a reflection of their self-identity are more likely to behave aggressively on the road and break the law.
- People with compulsive tendencies are more likely to drive aggressively with disregard for potential consequences.
- Increased materialism, or the importance of one’s possessions, is linked to increased aggressive driving tendencies.
- Young people who are in the early stages of forming their self-identity might feel the need to show off their car and driving skills more than others. They may also be overconfident and underestimate the risks involved in reckless driving.
- Those who admit to aggressive driving also admit to engaging in more incidents of breaking the law.
- A sense of being under time and pressure leads to more aggressive driving.
“We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.” -Hunter S Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream (Vintage)
If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. -J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
The amount of music that 8- to 18-year-olds listen to has increased by 45 percent in recent years, rising dramatically with the popularity of MP3 players, such as iPods. Previous research has indicated that there is a strong link between exposure to sexual media (on screen and in music) and sexual activity. Teens tend to overestimate the sexual activity of their peers and one source of this misperception is the entertainment media. -Science Daily
For years, psychologists have observed that people routinely overestimate their abilities, said study leader Dominic Johnson, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
Some experts have suggested that overconfidence can be a good thing, perhaps by boosting ambition, resolve, and other traits, creating self-fulfilling prophecies.
But positive self-delusion can also lead to faulty assessments, unrealistic expectations, and hazardous decisions, according to the study—making it a mystery why overconfidence remains a key human trait despite thousands of years of natural selection, which typically weeds out harmful traits over generations.
Now, new computer simulations show that a false sense of optimism, whether when deciding to go to war or investing in a new stock, can often improve your chances of winning. -Christine Dell’Amore, National Geographic News
Photo Credit: Mustafa Khayat on Flickr
In those days, the border country between England and Scotland was the resort of robbers, freebooters, and outlaws from both lands. -Mary Queen of Scots, Makers of History by Jacob Abbott (free for your eReader in many formats from Project Gutenberg)
You know that guy, the one with the red sports car. What message is he trying to send with that thing anyway? Here’s some research:
“Just as peacocks flaunt their tails before potential mates, men may flaunt flashy products to charm potential dates. Notably, not all men favored this strategy — just those men who were interested in short-term sexual relationships with women.” -Science Daily
Writing Prompt: Write about a guy on the prowl and what he uses to signal he’s on the make.
Journaling Prompt: How do you react to a show off?
Art Prompt: muscle car
Nonfiction / Speech Writing Prompt: Write about your own midlife crisis (or that of someone you know).
Photo Credit: Reportergimmi on Flickr
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