A new research by satellite navigation company TomTom reveals that men’s stress levels rise seven times higher than a women’s when stuck in heavy traffic. British psychologists reached this conclusion after testing volunteers for the rise in stress chemicals in their saliva when caught up in a traffic jam.
The study found that women’s stress levels increased by 8.7 percent, while men’s soared to 60 percent in the same traffic jam scenario. According to UK specialists, this could prove unhealthy as it puts pressure on the heart and causes dizziness and breathing problems. However, many of the volunteers had no idea they were experiencing stress. 67 percent of the women and 50 percent of men said they did not feel any stress after 20 minutes in heavy traffic, even though the readings showed otherwise.
According to the study, 48 percent of adults commute to work by car on a daily basis, with those exposed constantly to traffic jams risking stress-related health problems, which in turn could make their driving potentially dangerous.
Psychologists explain men are more stressed because their normal response to a difficult situation is known as “fight or flight”, in other words, either confront it or walk away from it. However, they cannot do anything about a traffic jam, so they sit and get mad. Women, on the other hand, cope better with these kind of situations, using numerous methods such as singing to a tune on the radio to relieve the pressure.
It seems this is the favorite activity for British drivers caught up in traffic jams, with 77 percent listening to music, while 23 percent sing for themselves. Other activities include making phone calls (16 percent), eating/drinking (20 percent) and putting on make-up or shaving (3 percent).
By Dan Mihalascu
