A study by psychologist William Szlemko at Colorado State University in Fort Collins that recorded whether people had added seat covers, bumper stickers, special paint jobs, stereos and even plastic dashboard toys to their cars has found a link between road rage and the number of personalized items on or in their vehicle.
“The number of territory markers predicted road rage better than vehicle value, condition or any of the things that we normally associate with aggressive driving,” say Szlemko. What’s more, only the number of bumper stickers, and not their content, predicted road rage - so “Jesus saves” may be just as worrying to fellow drivers as “Don’t mess with Texas”. Szlemko suggests that this territoriality may encourage road rage because drivers are simultaneously in a private space (their car) and a public one (the road). “We think they are forgetting that the public road is not theirs, and are exhibiting territorial behavior that normally would only be acceptable in personal space,” says Szlemko. Although the finding will probably help psychologists to identify and potentially prevent road rage, the discovery may apply to other situations besides motoring. “This work clearly demonstrates that people will actively defend a space or territory that they feel attached to and have personalized with markers,” says psychologist Graham Fraine.