Nature reports on a newly discovered link between road rage and bumper stickers. In other words, those pithy little messages say more than what’s printed:
Bumper stickers such as “Make Love, Not War” and “More Trees, Less Bush” speak volumes about a vehicle’s driver — but maybe not in the way they might hope. People who customize their cars with stickers and other adornments are more prone to road rage than other people, according to researchers in Colorado.
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People who had a larger number of personalized items on or in their car were 16% more likely to engage in road rage, the researchers report in the journal Applied Social Psychology.
“The number of territory markers predicted road rage better than vehicle value, condition or any of the things that we normally associate with aggressive driving,” say Szlemko. What’s more, only the number of bumper stickers, and not their content, predicted road rage….
Have A Nice Day!
As I noted elsewhere, the driver’s aggression level may be regardless of the bumper sticker message.
However, the driver with the “Guns Don’t Kill People; I Kill People” sticker is far more likely to be packing heat and a willingness to shoot first than the driver with a Florida, John Lennon, “Imagine” license plate.
So, double check those stickers before you honk or raise a finger.