Relationships between aggressive driving behaviors, demographics and pareidolia

A survey was conducted that had eighty-nine participants rank whether the front and back end styles of vehicles looked like faces or could be interpreted to convey expressions of anger. A covariance analysis of the data was performed. Correlations were found between demographic information, whether participants saw the vehicles as faces (visual pareidolia), and their self-reported responses to aggressive driving behaviors. The strongest conclusion was that pareidolia, or seeing vehicles anthropomorphically, increased the likelihood of response to other aggressive drivers, whether it be aggressive or defensive action. The results improve the understanding of factors related to aggressive driving situations and road safety, and suggest further work to relate perception and emotional response in drivers.