[pjbiju]

Men feel macho need for speed-Health/Science-The Times of India
"GENEVA: Young men drive fast because speed is perceived as inherently male, a team of Swiss and German researchers claimed in a study released on Monday.

The scientists at the Universities of Zurich, Neuchatel and Heidelberg found that men who were exposed to a "typically male environment" drove "significantly" faster than when they were in female or neutral environments.

The study involved 83 male students aged 20 to 27, who were placed in driving simulators, Neuchatel psychology professor Marianne Schmid Mast said. They accelerated when they were played words such as 'muscle' or 'beard' — which were taken to evoke masculine traits — over the car radio in the simulated male environment.

In the female environment, words like 'lipstick' or 'pink' were played and they drove about two kilometres an hour slower. Similar results were found with the simulated neutral environment — words like 'table' or 'chair'.

The study was prompted by concern about the high proportion of young men involved in road accidents linked to speeding.

"The link between a macho attitude and aggressive driving has often been evoked but it hadn't been demonstrated," she said.

The experts said the findings could help design road safety campaigns that dissociate speed from masculinity, such as by showing seven times Formula One champion Michael Schumacher driving slowly on normal roads."

[theMAG]

If having adrenaline, peace-of-mind and control at the same time is macho, then I'm not complaining.

[D1ISTHE1]

Drive fast, as fast as you can, when you can, where ever you can but never push it beyond a point that you loose control. I drive fast, i take it as my responsibility that my driving should not cause any hazard or unease others on the road. YES! its macho... coz you still need nerves of steel and a cooool mind to keep you focused.

[tin23uk]

sadly i don't drive fast anymore. in fact i don't drive at all they took my license away for driving fast and ever so slightly intoxicated. but i do walk fast in order to feel more macho not quite the same though.

it sucks. i've been around motorsport and fast cars all my life. my dad was a racing driver, bentley test driver and then worked for the sultan of brunei repairing his cars. and my mother is head pit marshal at oulton park circuit and i am forced to walk because of one night of stupidity.

Don't drink and drive, taking buses and walking sucks. add to that smashing a renault five gordini turbo (my pride and joy) in a drunken stupor and it really sucks.

[Thad E Ginathom]

So they totally ignored the women who drive fast?

I'm going to grow a "beard", and then die it "pink". I wonder what that will do for my driving?

[hyper123]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

So they totally ignored the women who drive fast?

I'm going to grow a "beard", and then die it "pink". I wonder what that will do for my driving?

That depends on the amount of the beard and saturation of pink that you use!

More bread and less of pink: more speed!
Less beard and more of pink: lesser speed and you will definitely be called 'pinky'!!
Both in equal amounts: No change!!

Warning: Your appearance will change in any of the above mentioned cases!!

[Thad E Ginathom]

Hmmm... yes.

Well, what if I wear odd shoes, pink and blue. Will it matter which foot I wear the pink one on?

And pink is only a shade of red, which other studies have shown causes us to be more aggressive!

As it happens, if I do try and grow a beard these days it comes out all grey and patchy. Age is great at slowing us down; the beard is just a symptom.

Another Hmmm...

What if I died the beard bright red?

[Sankar]

A beard would add to the weight in a car and make you go slower.. if you're on a bike it would screw up the aerodynamics.

[pjbiju]

I am not sure how such studies are conducted. May be there are more men driving on the roads than there are women. Adding PINK/RED beards will certainly give the researchers scope for another thesis and doctorate.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Isn't easy to set out to prove what we know to be true already?

Young men tend to be competitive and aggressive.

I recall a study years back that 'showed' that people who were happy in their jobs took less time off than those who were not. ISTR that a substantial grant was spent on that little gem!

[gbpscars]

MODS!!!!
do something to hide this thread from my wife of from anyone else's for the good of us all.

i dont want her sitting beside me and saying "pink""lipstick" all the time.
that will make me more prone to crashes looking for pink lipsticks on the road. hehehe.


oh! these statisticians.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I'm going to grow a "beard", and then die it "pink". I wonder what that will do for my driving?

LOL Thad!!! that's a good one.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Just keep a good lookout for all the pretty women on the pavement who are wearing pink.

Guaranteed method to improve your driving and your marriage.

Of course, I could be wrong about that ...

[snaronikar]

Back to the thread: I was driving once upon a time like mad driver. Always pumped up. But not anymore..When the responsibility comes and there are some one behind you putting queries, then it will be difficult to have same kind of habit. I have changed my style of driving from past 3~4 years. Even in highways, nowadays, I will not push the accelerator hard and not go beyond 100~110 kmph. Good for me right

[Thad E Ginathom]

Well, the nonsense posts are just to emphasise that it is a nonsense research!

But you are right. With responsibilities comes, err... responsibility. And even with increasing age the desire to pretend that one is on a race track lessens.

What would really be to the point of the thread is to know if your wife has experienced similar change in driving style, as the research is all about gender. If you can tell us that she never did drive madly in the first place, then once again we can say that the research was a waste of time and money

[thefreak]

Ah! Brilliant research!

In the female environment, words like 'lipstick' or 'pink' were played and they drove about two kilometres an hour slower. Similar results were found with the simulated neutral environment — words like 'table' or 'chair'.

The conclusion of the research may be significantly affected by the fact that when lipstick or pink were said the guys just stopped looking at the road and started searching for the pink lips(ticks). If this be the case then the feminine environment may have brought out the basic masculine tastes. Hence female environments bring out masculine traits.