Driving Anger and Evolving Strategies to Help Reduce It

Angry driver

Source: 123rf Stock Photo/markoaliaksandr

Sergio was fixated on the conflict he had with his supervisor about not receiving a raise. Now, in congested traffic, his mind raced with how he wished he had responded. He became more easily annoyed with others’ driving. He repeatedly honked his horn and made some careless maneuvers. So, exactly what factors contributed to his more aggressive behaviors?

Road anger has been identified as an important factor associated with risky driving behaviors as well as accidents, some of which are fatal. Aggressive behaviors include those directed to hurt another person, a driver, or a pedestrian—either physically or emotionally. The more aggressive behaviors include unsafe lane changes, speeding, car-ramming, or physical attacks (Ozkan, Lajunen, Parker, et. al., 2010). Less aggressive driving behaviors include flashing lights, running stops or red lights, honking, verbal threats, non-verbal gestures, tailgating, or blocking other drivers.

A meta-analysis reviewed 51 studies over the prior two decades and found that driving anger was associated with risky driving, driving errors, and near misses and accidents (Zhang & Chan, 2016). Additionally, it found that driving anger was a stronger predictor of risky drivers among young drivers than among old drivers.

With regard to driver-pedestrian interaction, one study found that anger led to increased speed, the minimum speed when encountering a pedestrian, the probability of passing in front of a pedestrian, and the lateral distance to the pedestrian from the right (Zhang, Qu, & Ge, 2022).

Factors that contribute to aggressive driving

Attention. Mind-wandering, especially when it induces a negative mood, has been associated with an increase in accidents (Albert, Ouimet, & Brown, 2022). This is furthered when individuals are prone to rumination regarding perceived negative events, as evidenced by Sergio’s reaction. Another study found impulsivity to be correlated with anger expression and risky driving behavior (Miron-Juarez, Garcia-Hernandez, Ochoa-Avila, et. al, 2020).

Personality. Numerous studies have explored personality factors associated with driving anger. One study found that individuals scoring high in neuroticism had more frequent types of aggression, reported less frequent constructive ways of dealing with anger, and had greater crash involvement (Karimi, Aghabayk, & Stephens, 2021). It also concluded that drivers with higher levels of conscientiousness more often dealt with their anger constructively and had fewer crashes. Younger and male drivers reported more frequent aggression.

A study of 1,686 driving offenders found that psychopathic traits were positively associated with violations and aggressive driving expression and negatively associated with prosocial behaviors (Karras, Csillik, & Delhomme, 2022). These qualities were especially impacted by reduced empathy, impulsiveness, and sensation-seeking.

Gender differences. In an attempt to identify gender differences, one study surveyed a sample of 541 drivers, aged 20-73 years old (Gonzalez-Iglesias, Gomez-Fraguela, and Luengo-Martin, 2012). Males reported having had a greater number of fines and accidents and more frequently violated traffic regulations. Males were more angry with police presence ,while females were more angry with traffic obstructions. In general, women exhibited a more adaptive attitude.

One study found that an individual’s sex role appears to be more useful than considering gender to understand the relationship with anger (Sullman, Paxion,& Stephens, 2017). It reported that having traits associated with higher femininity was associated with adaptive/constructive behavior, while higher masculinity was predictive of more aggressive forms of anger expression,

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Mood. A more recent study, exploring the relationship between mood and driver behaviors, found that negative affect was positively associated with stress, which then contributed to increased violations (Ozturk, Varankaya & Oz, 2024). Another study found that more negative appraisals of the traffic situation were related to higher levels of state anger (Albentosa, Stephens, & Sullman, 2018).

Another interesting study of the impact of mood on a driver’s behavior found that drivers experiencing either sadness or anger made significantly more errors and took longer driving time than those in a neutral condition (Jeon, M., 2016).

Trait anger. One question that has often been asked is whether those who are angry on the road have a similar disposition that is pervasive in their life. A group of researchers studied a sample of 198 drivers to answer this question (Herro-Fernandez, 2013). The study found that anger on and off the road was related to a trait anger, a chronic predisposition for anger arousal.

An earlier study found that higher anger drivers, when compared to lower anger drivers, report more frequent and intense anger and more aggression and risky behavior in daily driving, more close calls and moving violations, and greater use of hostile/aggressive and less adaptive ways of expressing anger (Deffenbacher, Deffenbacher, Lynch, et. al., 2003).

Another study, a meta-analysis of 51 studies, confirmed that there is a positive relationship between anger and aggressive driving behavior, especially with regard to trait anger (Bogman, Mairean, & Havameanu, 2016). Additionally, this relationship depends on different forms of aggressive driving, gender, age, and driving experience.

Emotional intelligence. The capacity to cope with stress very much depends on skills in resilience that include emotional intelligence. Consistent with this premise, one study found that drivers with higher emotional intelligence showed less driving anger, evidenced greater emotion regulation, and consequently expressed more adaptive driving behavior (Zhou, Qu, and Ge, 2022).

Addressing the challenge of driver anger

Anger management education has been the most researched approach for dealing with this challenge. It includes cognitive relaxation and cognitive behavioral interventions that can help decrease anger behind the wheel. Increasingly, mindfulness has also become a part of these programs to effectively reduce distraction and help the driver to observe and respond to their triggers rather than react to them.

Additionally, recent research is exploring in-car strategies that can help drivers effectively manage their anger. For example, one study found that prompts offering reappraisal helped drivers manage their frustrations of the road. These led to better driving behavior and drivers having less negative emotions than either a neutral group or those hearing prompts that inflated negative emotions (Harris & Nass, 2011).

Another study identified the use of technology in cars that to enable contactless detection of the driver’s states, thus directing attention to promoting safe driver behavior through emotional regulation while driving (Braun, Weber & Weber, 2021). Similarly, another study developed a “mood-modulator," a system capable of manipulating the in-vehicle environment: such as ambient lighting, background music, scent, ventilation, and rear curtains (Kim, Kim, Ji, et. al., 2022). They found that adjusting these four modules could positively impact the affect of drivers who had viewed a movie clip that aroused negative emotions.

Another study highlights the use of physiological data reported by a sensor that can be used to help the driver recognize his or her tension (Liu, Koch, Zhou, et. al., 2021). It suggests the use of in-vehicle sensors that can interface with a smartphone or watch to assess affect, physiology, and traffic to help provide context. This information might then both increase a driver’s awareness and prompt him for a more constructive approach.

Driving anger is destructive for drivers, for other drivers, and for pedestrians. All too often, it leads to accidents and even fatalities. Addressing this issue is both the responsibility of individuals and those who create and enforce policy regarding the requirements for licensing and renewal and prescribing consequences for destructive anger. The use of technology is showing some promise as an effective contribution to helping drivers more effectively express their anger. How easy it would be if some alarm alerted Sergio that his mind was wandering with anger and offered some prompts to help him more constructively manage it.