Road Rage Research Paper

The term “road rage” was coined in the USA in the 1980s by a police officer after he pulled over a motorist who shot another driver who cut him off (Sunrise Digest, 1988). Road rage is currently defined as intentionally participating in risky driving behaviors that are known to increase the likelihood of a crash. Previous definitions of road rage did not include intent. This definition change shows that road rage is something that one chooses to do instead of unconsciously doing it. Two forms of road rage have been identified: mild and severe. Mild forms of road rage include obscene gestures and name calling. Severe forms of road rage include threats, physical confrontation, and murder. Certain road conditions, like construction or a detour,
The ethnic distribution of participants was 51.6% white, 31.6% black, 4.9% Asian, and 4.9% preferred not to answer. For their participation, a chance to enter a random gift card drawing was offered. The participants were 18 to 37 years old (M = 20.59, SD= 3.162).
Materials and Procedure
Measures.
Locus of Control Scale (Rotter, 1966). The Locus of Control is a 13 item questionnaire that measures a person’s perception of control which is internal or external control of reinforcement. Individuals with a high internal locus of control believes that their own actions determine the rewards they obtain. Individuals with high external locus of control believe that their own behavior does not matter and that rewards of life are outside of their control. Scores range from 0 to 13. A low score indicates an internal control while a high score indicates external
Scale measures anger in drivers and the situations that causes anger amongst drivers. This scale contains 33 anger invoking situations that are composed of six subscales: hostile gestures (3 items that deal with displeasure toward the driver in the form of physical, verbal or vehicular expression.), illegal driving (4 items that include illegal driving actions by other drivers), slow driving (6 items that deal with behaviors of other drivers that slowdown the driver), police presence (police involvement in one form or another), discourtesy ( 9 behaviors that are not illegal but seen as discourteous, not thought out, or rude), and traffic obstructions (7 traffic conditions that do not involve the impending behaviors of other but causes frustration or slow down the driver). Scores are added up for each of the six subscales. Higher scores for each subscale indicates a higher amount of anger experienced in response to that specific type of