Hyundai Motor UK has ordered a study to find out which of the two sexes is angrier behind the wheel, and the results have just come in.
Conducted on 1,000 UK drivers, the research shows women to be 12 percent on average angrier than men when driving, and their bad temper is said to be based on the ancient defense instincts from when humans were hunter-gatherers.
“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“, behavioral psychologist from the Goldsmiths University London, Patrick Fagan, who conducted the experiment.
Happiness and anger are the two dominant emotions that drive both men and women behind the wheel, and 84 percent of them admitted that an empty road makes them happy, while a joyride in the countryside and the seaside is preferred by 78 percent and 69 percent, respectively.
Music is another key feature for keeping drivers happy and 54 percent of the Brits questioned said that singing makes them happy in the car. Communication is also important, as 29 percent of men admitted that they find it easier to have a conversation in the car, while 14 percent added that a chat makes them a better driver.
By combining data from the research with cutting-edge technology, Hyundai and Patrick Fagan have come up with the world’s first Driving Emotion Test (DET), which involves eye tracking analysis, facial coding, galvanic skin response, and a heart rate monitor to record “how specific stimuli impact our emotions when we’re driving”. The results are then fed into a special software that provides subjects with a unique DET score.
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