Personality and aggressive driving

WASHINGTON — More than half of those convicted of violent felonies in large urban areas between 1990 and 2002 had previous convictions, the U.S. Justice Department reported Sunday. Nearly four in 10, or 38 percent, had some type of prior felony conviction, while an additional 18 percent had a prior misdemeanor conviction, the Bureau of Justice Statistics said. — AP. Washington Post, August 6,2006. 

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In the remainder of this chapter I shall focus on the relationship between personality and aggressive driving, and illustrate how the various other factors that appear in the model above 

The most extensive survey to date of driver opinions on aggressive driving was conducted by Gallup in 2003, covering representative samples of drivers in 23 different countries. In this survey, 75 percent of the American drivers, and 80 percent of the European and Australian drivers believed that the aggressiveness of drivers has increased over the past few years . 

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One area of concern - and the focus of this chapter - is the relationship between a driver s personality and his or her aggressive driving behaviors. The model presented in Figure 9-2 is one coneeptual approach to describe the relationship between the two. 

Figure 9-2. A proposed model to illustrate the interaction between personality characteristics, situational variables and overt behaviors of aggressive driving (reprinted from Shinar, 1998, with permission from Elsevier).

The ability to work for the love of it, as if the company is your own. This is generally an inspiration to all around you. Such a commitment requires a complex combination of qualities, notably a personal passion for the job, wisdom, aggression, humility, creativity, a sense of humor, obsession, relentless drive, occasional ruthlessness, and the ability to stay hungry, inter alia. People working for the love of it generally have a passion to promote excellence. 

Akathisia can literally drive a person crazy. Barnes (1992) pointed to studies indicating that akathisia can induce psychosis. He cited literature confirming that it can cause aggression and violence or suicide (see also Breggin et al., 1994a, for discussion of akathisia and suicide). Van Putten and Marder (1987) reviewed the literature and concluded that akathisia in the extreme case, can drive people to suicide or to homicide. Too often, doctors are likely to mistake the akathisia for the patient s mental disorder and increase the medication, creating a vicious cycle. 

The most frequent adverse effect which occurs in at least one-third of patients is drowsiness, often accompanied by incoordination or ataxia. Problems with driving, operating machinery, or falls can result, particularly in the elderly, and can be an important source of morbidity, loss of physical function, and mortality (47,48). Memory impairment, loss of insight, and transient euphoria are common paradoxical reactions of irritability or aggressive behavior have been well documented (11) and appear to occur more often in individuals with a history of impulsiveness or a personality disorder (40), and in the context of interpersonal stress and frustration (49). Tolerance to the sedative and hypnotic effects generally occurs more rapidly than to the anxiolytic or amnestic effects (1). 

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