Evolutionary Psychology, Demography and Vehicle Crashes: A Theoretical Synthesis

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Evolutionary Psychology, Demography and Vehicle
Crashes A Theoretical Synthesis David L.
Wiesenthal Deanna Singhal
Source Wiesenthal, D. L. Singhal, D. M. (In
press). Evolutionary psychology, demography and
driver safety research A theoretical synthesis.
In S. Craig Roberts (Ed.), Applied evolutionary
psychology. Oxford, UK Oxford University Press.
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Some National Road Safety Initiatives

• Canada
• Finland
• Holland
• Great Britain
• Switzerland

These nations have reported a decrease in
collisions and an improvement in driver safety
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Data plotted from Canadian Motor Vehicle Traffic
Collision Statistics 2004. Source Transport
Canada
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Interpreting Driving Safety Statistics

• Governments attribute safety improvement to their
  initiatives and/or technical improvements in
  vehicle and highway design, road maintenance,
  driver training, graduated licencing, and
  enforcement strategies.
• These statistics need to be interpreted in
  relation to the demographic situation of the
  specific population in question.
• How can we explain drunk driving, risky driving,
  driver aggression and roadway violence?

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Evolutionary Psychology Principles

• Males, more than females, vie for status,
  economic resources and engage in physical
  conflict when status and resources are involved.
  The greatest potential gain from risk occurs
  during the stage when mate competition begins.
• Environmental stability/instability and social
  learning plays a role, so it is not a case of
  simple biological determinism.

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Evolutionary Psychology Principles

• Males, more than females, vie for status,
  economic resources and engage in physical
  conflict when status and resources are involved
  The greatest potential gain from risk occurs
  during the stage when mate competition begins.
• Environmental stability/instability and social
  learning plays a role, so it is not a case of
  simple biological determinism.

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Evolutionary Psychology (continued)

• Evolutionary psychology would predict that
  violent behaviours, driver aggression, and
  alcohol consumption would be the greatest for
  young males.
• The proportion of young males in a population
  will influence the prevalence of violent crime,
  risk-taking and driving while intoxicated.
• As the proportion of young males in a population
  increase, the level of aggression and risk taking
  will increase.
• As the proportion of young males in a population
  decrease, the level of aggression and risk taking
  will decrease.

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Males engage in a variety of risky
behavioursgamblingdrug useextreme
sportscrimealcohol consumption(from Wilson
Daly, 1985)
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Mesquidas Analysis of Coalitional Aggression

• Young males compete with each other and form
  intense hierarchies involved with mate selection
• Countries with a preponderance of young males may
  be at risk for coalitional aggression
• Economic conditions (scarcity) may intensify
  competition to secure resources necessary for
  obtaining wives
• The combination of scarcity and large numbers of
  young males increases the probability for
  coalitional aggression (e.g., gangs, civil
  wars,etc.)

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Social learning plays a role

• Media representations of areas for male
  competition in a specific culture
• Advertisements
• Cinema
• Imitation and modelling

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Do the ideas of evolutionary psychology influence
driver safety research?

• Web of Science searches on some key journal
  articles reveal little impact.
• Wilson Dalys (1985) conceptual argument has
  been cited in 125 publications, but none dealt
  with any aspect of driver behavior.

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MALES
FEMALES
21.5 million
1971
30 million
2001
See animation
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http//www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/
analytic/companion/age/cda01pymd.cfm

• Animated Population Pyramid
• Statistics Canada

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Annual estimates of the murder rate and the of
population ages 15-29, U.S., 1946-84, with
projections of the latter to 2001
of the population aged 15-29
Murder rate
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Population of Canada and Proportion of Males
15-29 yrs.
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Data source North American Transportation
Statistics//Note that a gap exists in x-axis
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Canadian Motor Vehicle Traffic Collision
Statistics, 2003

• Males (16-34 yrs.) represent 30.1 of male
  drivers and 16 of all Canadian drivers
• Males (15-34 yrs.) represent 39.5 of traffic
  fatalities and 43.6 of injuries
• Source Transport Canada

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Conclusions

• Demographic variables need to be examined before
  safety claims are attributed to policy
  implementations, engineering advances or highway
  improvements.
• Evolutionary psychology offers a theoretical
  basis for driver safety research and needs to be
  introduced to sharpen scholarly work in the area.

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The Vaticans 10 Commandments for Drivers

1. Thou shalt not kill
2. The road shall be for you a means of communion
   between people and not of mortal harm
3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you
   deal with unforeseen events
4. Be charitable and help your neighbour in need,
   especially victims of accidents
5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power
   and domination, and an occasion of sin

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The Vaticans 10 Commandments for Drivers

• 6. Charitably convince the young and not so young
  not to drive when they are not in a fitting
  condition to do so
• 7. Support the families of accident victims
• 8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims
  together, at the appropriate time, so that they
  can undergo the liberating experience of
  forgiveness
• 9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party
• 10. Feel responsible for others