Anger is thought to be a syndrome of specific feelings, thoughts and physiological reactions linked with the intent to harm someone or something (Be

Introduction/Rationale

Anger is thought to be a syndrome of specific feelings, thoughts and physiological reactions linked with the intent to harm someone or something (Berkowitz & HarmonJones, 2004). Every day, drivers affected by anger, especially driving anger, which is anger that occurs in response to drivingrelated stimuli while operating a vehicle or riding in one as a passenger (Galovski et al., 2006, p. 19), put themselves and others at risk.

Studies have shown driving while angry impairs judgement, perception and impulse control; paying less attention to potential hazards, and taking longer to correct driving errors (Stephens et al., 2012; Jeon et al., 2014). Driving anger is clearly a risk to public safety, highlighting the significance of studying road rage given its implications on road safety.

In this study, we used the proposed working definition of the term road rage, put forward by Bjureberg & Gross (2021), as a form of fairly intense behaviourally maladaptive anger often cued by drivingrelated stimuli while operating a vehicle or riding in one as a passenger. This definition integrates driving anger as well as aggressive driving, which is not necessarily a product of harmful intent towards another road-user (Hennessy & Wiesenthal, 2005).

To date, the majority of studies have assessed the use of a number of strategies to help drivers manage their own emotions, called intrinsic emotion regulation. Robust research has shown a positive outcome for drivers use of mindfulness (Kazemeini et al, 2012; Stephens, et al. 2018), cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) (Deffenbacher, 2016; Galovski et al., 2006; Feng et al., 2018; McRae, Ciesielski & Gross, 2012; Uusberg et al., 2019), distraction/attentional strategies (listening to music, podcast or focusing on scenery) (Stephens & Groeger, 2009), and relaxation (deep breathing and muscle relaxation) (Deffenbacher, 2016; Galovski et al., 2006).

Recent studies have begun to consider the role extrinsic emotion regulation may play in ameliorating road rage behaviour (Charlton & Starkey, 2020; Nozaki & Miko-Iajczak, 2020). Extrinsic emotion regulation is the use of external sources, such as someone elses emotion to modulate a drivers emotional response and behaviour (Nozaki & Miko-Iajczak, 2020). One study found the presence of passengers was associated with a slight but consistent reduction in driving anger (Shinar & Crompton, 2004). Another study demonstrated that having an older adult passenger who makes suggestions about driving speed and safety, can positively influence young drivers speed and decisions (Chung et al., 2014). A further study found an in-vehicle speech-based software agent can improve driving performance and safety, anger and psychological well being (Jeon et al., 2015).

Two studies have demonstrated that passenger conversation increases driving situation awareness (Drews et al., 2008; Rizalmi et al., 2019), however, little is known about the behavioural interactions between drivers and passengers that cause and control angry driving and driving behaviour. This study will therefore explore how passengers affect the maladaptive behaviours that are associated with anger in the context of driving, via their mere presence and/or attitudes.

Participants

Participants

Our experiment will recruit 180 participants from the general public through a UNSW mailing list. Participants will need to have a current NSW drivers licence and they will be randomly assigned to the experimental groups.

Design:

Our experiment will use a between subject experimental design. Participants will perform a simulated driving task to investigate the effect of passenger behaviour on drivers road rage.

In the driving stimulation, there will be planned events designed to interrupt the drivers journey and requiring driver responses.

The independent variable is the behaviour of a confederate passenger In the first condition - the confederatepresent condition, a confederate will sit in the front passenger seat and remain non responsive, in the confederate-agree condition, a confederate will affirm the appraisal of anger from the participant. In the confederatedisagree condition, a confederate will discourage the response of anger from the participant.

The dependent variable is the anger of the participant.

We have operationalised anger in 3 ways. Firstly, through self-reported anger evaluations. At predetermined locations, and before and after each drive, participants are prompted to rate their anger, frustration, and calmness on a scale of 1 to 10.

The second is behaviour in the driving stimulation such as rapid acceleration and braking, speed, lane position and changes, honking and collisions.

The third measure is physiological measures - pupil constriction, facial expressions that represent anger, heart rate, and blood pressure. A real time eye tracker and will be used to capture participants pupil constriction, and facial expressions. A smartwatch will be used to capture metrics such as heart rate and blood pressure.

Procedure

First, participants from the public were recruited to the study via the UNSW mailing list and gave their informed consent to participate. They completed a demographic questionnaire which also included a questionnaire on driving experience, frequency of driving, and traffic accident history.

Participants were then briefed and given instructions on how to operate the driving simulation and respond to the self-reported anger surveys. Then, they were presented with a short trial driving procedure.

Finally, the driving stimulation test was presented.

Planned Analysis and Predicted Outcomes:

Analysis will use self-reported evaluations, physiological changes, facial expressions, and driving behaviour. These will be converted into different categories and scaled accordingly. The scale will use a 50 points system, with higher scores given to signs of arousal (increases in heart rate, blood pressure), visible signs of anger (constricted pupils, furrowed brows, tense jaws and lips, the showing of teeth, and flared nostrils), and angry driving (rapid acceleration, braking, speed, lane changes, honking and collisions). A final score will be assigned to each participant and then analysed using ANOVA to examine if the presence, and/attitude of a passenger has an affect on drivers anger or road rage behaviour.

The previous study from Charlton & Starkey (2020) have demonstrated conversations between passengers and the driver can either aid or obstruct the driver. Furthermore, the type of conversation is important, both comments about driving performance or offering driving advice can cause irritation, which may lead to increased driver stress, and the possibility of driving errors and/or aggressive driving.

The first possible outcome with the confederatepresent but silent, shows no significant difference between control, and the passengers discourage a drivers angry response. In contrast, when passengers appraise the anger of the driver, we see an increase in aggressive driving scores. This suggests the attitude of a passenger does have an affect on maladaptive behaviours associated with road rage.

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The second possible outcome occurs when both passenger responses (discouragement and affirmative) can increase the drivers aggressive driving behaviours. However, please note we still observe a higher aggression score when the passenger encourages an angry response compared to when the passenger discourages angry behaviour. And as expected, there are no significant anger scores from the silent passenger and control group. INCLUDEPICTURE "https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ub-ahhsjg2kgjZMw_flLpwBwyKzyjueQ62kISHjcqO-2k7rc1MYrJguh06QMJFnyWwr22ZnFDLzigBrjPPdDXeVBlTBUXnPda2ifL5IYUFwWbzUMQ7ihDd5aowfLChVkBnXLLifBsr4cBsYnzEnMmFQuhr9ns1ai5iXmdFGUfGEnsQZ62fF2G0fLCjzWg" * MERGEFORMATINET

The third possible outcome is that there is no observable effect across all groups. Based on a study by Hu et al., (2012) the presence of a stranger may result in a self-monitoring effect, and thus drivers become more self conscious of their behaviours and better able to regulate driving anger and road rage.

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The third possible outcome is that there is no observable effect across all groups. Based on a study by Hu et al., (2012) the presence of a stranger may result in a self-monitoring effect, and thus drivers become more self conscious of their behaviours and better able to regulate driving anger and road rage.

References:

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Bjureberg, J. & Gross, J. J. (2021). Regulating road rage. Social & Personality Psychology Compass,

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Lee, C., & Abdel-Aty, M. (2008). Presence of passengers: Does it increase or reduce driver's crash potential? Accident Analysis and Prevention, 40(5), 17031712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2008.06.006Rosenbloom, T. & Perlman. (2016). Tendency to commit traffic violations and presence of passengers in the car. Transportation Research Part F Traffic Psychology & Behaviour, 39(3), 10-18. https://doi.or/10.1016/j.trf.2016.02.008McRae, K., Ciesielski, B., & Gross, J. J. (2012). Unpacking cognitive reappraisal: Goals, tactics, and outcomes. Emotion, 12(2), 250255 http://doi.org/10.1037/a0026351Megias, A., Candido, A., Catena, A., Molinero, S.& Maldonado, A. (2013). The Passenger Effect: Risky Driving is a Function of the Driver-Passenger Emotional Relationship. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 28(2),254-258. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.2989

Rizalmi, S. R., Wijayanto, T., Rossano, R., Trapsilawati, F., Marcillia, S. R., & Lufityanto, G. (2019). The Effect of Passenger Interaction on Situation Awareness and Driving Performance in Sleep-Deprived Condition. 5th International Conference on Science and Technology, 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICST47872.2019.9166363.

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A between subjects design will be used to investigate the effect of passenger behaviour on drivers road rage. In this exploratory experiment, the dependent variable is anger, which will be operationalised through self-reported anger evaluations, eye and facial tracking device (attentional gaze, pupil constriction facial expressions), arousal (heart rate, blood pressure) and behaviour (speed, lane position and collisions) during the simulation drive. Participants will all perform the same simulated driving task, with events designed to interrupt the drivers journey and requiring driver responses. The independent variable is the behaviour of a confederate passenger. In the first condition - the confederatepresent condition, a confederate will sit in the front passenger seat and remain non responsive, in the confederate-agree condition, a confederate will affirm the appraisal of anger from the participant. In the confederatedisagree condition, a confederate will discourage the appraisal of anger from the participant.

Materials

The equipment used for the study included a driving simulator, eye tracker, face camera, and a smartwatch. The University of Surrey driving simulator uses a full car body with a 180-degree view. The task is interactive, and drivers have control of the steering wheel, car pedals, indicators, horn, and a speedometer. Participants will drive the same 15 km route designed to replicate residential, urban and open road areas. Planned events are designed to interrupt the drivers journey requiring driver responses. Events were designed to induce driving anger in participants, such as novice drivers driving too slowly on the road, hostile gestures, discourtesy, traffic obstruction, illegal driving, and police presence.

A real time eye tracker and separate Logitech c920 camera was used to capture 864x480 video at 30 Hz of participants attentional gaze, pupil dilation or constriction, facial expressions. It has been shown that anger can be perceived by monitoring constricted pupils, furrowed brows, tense jaws and lips, the showing of teeth, flared nostrils, as these are signs of road rage. An Omron HeartGuide FDA smartwatch designed to continuously capture metrics such as heart rate and blood,are important indications of anger initiation and arousal.

Measures of Anger: At predetermined locations, and before and after each drive, driver response will be assessed through self-reported anger evaluations, and cross checked eye and facial data, along with real-time recordings of attentional gaze, pupil dilation or constriction, facial expressions, heart rate, blood pressure, and driving behaviour (speed, break, lane positions, collisions).

Self-reported anger evaluations will be measured on a scale for 1-5. As mentioned, these will be taken before and after the stimulation, and at stages during the stimulation. Participants will be prompted to rate their anger, frustration, and calmness on a scale of 1 (not at all) to 10 (very much).

Mood (Profile of Mood States) was assessed before and after each drive, with the use of a real-time eye tracker/face monitor to record participants eye movements and facial expressions (constricted pupils, furrowed brows, tense jaws and lips, the showing of teeth, flared nostrils), arousal (heart rate, blood pressure) and behaviour (speed, lane position and collisions).

Driving Anger Scale (DAS): The Driving Anger Scale (DAS) (Deffenbacher et al., 1994) was administered before the stimulation began. The DAS was used as a measure of an individuals trait driving anger, or their propensity to react with anger to various driving situations.

Procedure