Why do people get emotional more easily when driving? It turns out this is the reason

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Some drivers may have struggled with the arrogance of other drivers while on the road. Not long ago, for example, a car driver named Arie Febriant spat at another driver’s car just because he was reprimanded after causing traffic jams due to parking haphazardly on the shoulder of the road.

According to neuroscientist Heidi Solberg, there are several reasons that can make drivers more irritable when on the road. This kind of irritable attitude can even be experienced by someone whose attitude is known to be good when they are not driving.

Solberg said, one of the main reasons is that drivers usually already have a goal they want to achieve or an activity they want to do when driving. When these goals or desires are disturbed by other drivers, feelings of anger or irritation can arise.

“(The disturbance) will feel like it is preventing you from achieving the goals you want,” said Solberg, as reported The Naked Scientists on Monday (8/4/2024).

Another reason is that car drivers generally do not interact face to face or directly with car drivers while on the road. So when feeling angry with another driver, a driver can shout or even hurl insults without actually being involved in the conversation or getting a reaction from the other driver.

The passionate anger felt by drivers while on the road should not be underestimated. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety gave an example that passionate road rage contributed to 12,610 injuries and 218 fatalities during the 1990-1996 period in the United States.

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), a study found that young men tend to be more susceptible to feeling passionate anger when on the street. Apart from that, environmental factors such as congested or congested roads can also trigger road rage.

Psychological factors also play a role in encouraging the passionate anger that drivers feel when they are on the road. These psychological factors can be: displaced anger or a tendency to vent anger at something or someone else that is actually unrelated and high levels of stress in life.

According to stress management expert, Dr. Elizabeth Scott PhD, there are several things that drivers can do to avoid excessive anger while on the road. The following are four of them, as reported VerywellMind:

1. Breathing exercises to release tension and relax yourself. Focusing your mind on your breathing also makes for less frustration on the road.

2. Listen to music, broadcasts podcastsuntil audiobooks what you like while driving. Music can make the driving experience more enjoyable. Whereas podcasts or audiobooks can be a small distraction so that your mind doesn’t focus too much on the annoying things on the road.

3. Do relaxation with techniques progressive muscle relaxation And deep muscle relaxation. These two techniques can help release the tension that arises while sitting while driving, so that the rider can feel more relaxed physically and mentally.

4. Do wise time planning. Often excessive anger when driving is triggered by frustration because the driver is in a hurry to go somewhere. Try to leave earlier and make a plan to deal with traffic jams, so that drivers can still feel relaxed even if the journey is not so smooth.