How your car could be giving away clues about your personality
Post on: 2011-11-02 By: admin
Your car really does give clues about your personality, according to research
The Chrysler Crossfire, was rated amongst the angriest cars
Richard Gray, Science Correspondent
Researchers have found that people instinctively attach human personality
traits to cars, saying that cars with wide radiator grilles and narrow
headlights are dominant and aggressive, while those with large windscreens
have childish and happy "faces".
The findings may provide some insight into why drivers react in different ways
to the cars around them and why some vehicles invoke strong reactions.
Specific cars were also singled out having particular traits that relate to
personality. The Chrysler Crossfire, BMW 645ci and VW Sharan were rated
amongst the angriest cars, while the
Diahatsu Cuore, a small Japanese-built hatchback, was found to be the saddest.
Cars made by German luxury manufacturer Maybach were seen as being the most
dominant alongside the BMW 3, BMW 5 and BMW 645ci.
BMW drivers angriest on road
'The worst drivers own BMWs'
What does your car say about you?
The new Nissan Micra was seen as the most submissive while the Toyota Aygo was
The new style Volkswagen Beetle was the happiest car while the Mercedes E
class was viewed as being neurotic by the adults in Ethiopia.
The Vauxhall Astra, however, was seen as being a decidedly average car.
The latest research, which asked adults in Europe and Africa if they attached
any emotions, personalities and ages to different cars, found that people
assess the shape of cars in the same way they assess other people's faces.
Cars with slit like headlights, large grilles and wide air intakes were seen
as being more mature, masculine and dominant while those with rounder
headlines and larger windscreens were seen as being more childish, feminine
Sonja Windhager, an anthropologist at the University of Vienna who led the
research, said that the personalities attributed to the cars could were
probably also attributed to the drivers of those vehicles.
She said: "Our findings unearthed the striking similarities between car
and face perception. The similarities of car and face perception might
influence driving, pedestrian behaviour and the design of car fronts
"I think it might influence our decisions on which cars we buy when other
factors such as price, space and engine power are close to being equal. We
may even pay more for a car with a face we like better, but that remains to
The researchers asked 129 adults from Austria and Ethiopia to rate images of
26 real cars in a bid to investigate the phenomena of pareidoliathe human
tendency to find faces and other human traits in inanimate objects.
As the Ethiopians had not been exposed to much advertising for cars, which can
influence how people perceive a brand, the researchers expected to see
differences in the attributes they attached to the vehicles.
There were some differences between the two countries took, with people in
Ethiopia generally rating cars as friendlier than people in Austria.
Miss Windhager now wants to find out how the "faces" of different
cars affects drivers' behaviour - she said such research could have
implications for the design of future cars and even the insurance industry.
She said: "We would like to see whether the driving behaviour of other
drivers is affected by the shape of a car. Do we change the lane sooner when
we see an aggressive looking car in the rear-view mirror?
"Human and animal faces convey much essential information in contexts
ranging from predation to social interaction. Face detection and the
accurate interpretation at an early stage of an encounter must have been
crucial for the survival of our ancestors.
"As a result, we are tempted to see faces almost everywhere, even in
clouds, stones and, of course, cars."
Cars and their personalities
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1530675/The-worst-drivers-own-BMWs.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/2721198/What-does-your-car-say-about-you.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/2746140/Whats-in-a-face.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8857618/How-your-car-could-be-giving-away-clues-about-your-personality.html
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