As in all environments where humans are present, one can find all sorts of people on the roads driving cars. As I’m sure most of you know, spending time behind the wheel of a car can be a stressful and frustrating experience, whether commuting to work or even on holidays.

This is why social psychologists from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) together with tire manufacturer Goodyear have launched an ongoing study on the social psychology of road safety. The idea is to identify how people respond when they interact with other drivers on the road.

With this research, LSE and Goodyear aim to identify how drivers influence each other’s behavior on the road. Through focus groups and in-depth interviews with European drivers, the study found there are seven main personalities that frequently manifest themselves on the road. Ready? Here we go.

The Teacher

I’m sure you’ve all met him or her in traffic. It’s the one that needs to make sure other drivers know what they have done wrong. But he or she is not satisfied only with that, expecting recognition of the efforts to teach others.

The Know-it-all

The name says it all, doesn’t it? It’s the driver that thinks he/she is surrounded by incompetent fools. These drivers use to shout condescendingly at other drivers while being protected in their own car.

The Competitor

My God, not a day passes by for me without meeting at least one of these drivers. The Competitor needs to get ahead of all other drivers and is annoyed when someone gets in the way of that. It’s the type of driver who might accelerate when you try to overtake him/her or close a gap to prevent anyone from getting in front of him/her.

The Punisher

He or she is the driver who wants to punish other drivers for any perceived misbehavior. Don’t be surprised to see him/her get out of the car or approach other drivers directly. Sadly, this is a pretty common personality type.

The Philosopher

This is the type of driver I’ve been trying to become in recent years, having concluded that getting mad for other drivers’ mistakes does not lead to anything good. According to the study, the Philosopher accepts misbehavior easily and tries to rationally explain it. More importantly, this driver manages to control his/her feelings in the car.

The Avoider

I think this category is closely related to the latter. The Avoider treats misbehaving other drivers impersonally and dismisses them as a hazard.

The Escapee

Finally, the Escapee is the type of driver who uses distractions like listening to music or talking on the phone to insulate himself/herself from other drivers. Escapees distract themselves with selected social relationships so that they do not have to relate to any of the other drivers on the road. They also use it as a strategy for not getting frustrated in the first place.

So, what do you think? Did you find yourself in any of these categories?

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