Men with ridiculously loud vehicles aren't just annoying, they might be psychopaths: study
'A desire for a loud car with a modified muffler is predicted by being a man and higher scores on psychopathy and sadism'
I started writing this tongue-in-cheek Facebook poll asking what a psychologist might say a person is lacking in their life if they need to drive around with an intentionally loud muffler on a motor vehicle.
A. The small penis claim is too easy and while might be true in some cases, that's just an ad hominem attack
B. Is it a fear of not being noticed?
C. A cry for help?
D. Sociopathy?
E. Loneliness?
F. Externalizing an inability to have a voice, be heard, make waves, perform, i.e. impotence (see A)?
Before I posted it, I thought, for every sarcastic notion that pops into my mind, others have almost certainly put even more thought into it. So I asked ChatGPT about the topic and got a surprising answer that, oh ya, someone sure has. The answer's footnote linked to a scientific study in the April 14, 2023 issue of Current Issues in Personality Psychology entitled “A desire for a loud car with a modified muffler is predicted by being a man and higher scores on psychopathy and sadism.”
Well whaddya know, turns out those guys driving around intentionally annoying every other person in the community aren't only and usually boys seeking attention, they might even be dangerous and the behaviour could be predictive of future antisocial behaviour.
The study examined whether demographic variables (age and sex) and self-reported responses on a “dark tetrad scale” is predictive of aggregated answers to three questions asked of 529 undergraduate business students (52 per cent men), namely:if they viewed their car as an extension of themselves, how much they thought loud cars were “cool,” and if they would make their car louder with muffler modifications.
The dark tetrad is an expansion on the psychological model of the dark triad: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy, with the addition of sadism, which researchers believe to be a trait connected to the other three, hence the dark tetrad or dark quad.
Simple definitions of all four, from a Psychology Today article on the dark tetrad:
• Narcissism: A belief that one is special, particularly gifted, obsessed with themselves and that they are superior to others
• Machiavellianism: A tendency to see people as a means to achieve one's own goals
• Psychopathy: A condition characterized by a lack of affective empathy and the willingness to exploit others
• Sadism: The tendency to derive pleasure from the pain or humiliation of others.
(Note: I wonder what Donald Trump scores would be on a dark tetrad survey?)
I pause for a moment to explain the two distinct classes of these types of people and vehicles in a very over-generalizing way. This is not from the study, this was my premise for the Facebook poll.
Firstly, people driving so-called “rice rockets,” which are Japanese front-wheel drive cars, such as a Mitsubishi Lancer or an Acura Integra, with aftermarket modifications to make them look and sound ridiculous. The term also refers to, and actually originated with, domestic motorcycle riders who used it as a slur to make fun of people riding Kawasaki Ninjas or similar Japanese racing bikes when they first came to market.
Secondly, owners of that most famous of motorcycle brands, Harley-Davidson, or equivalents who already ride around loud and proud but who sometimes also modify with aftermarket components to be even louder.
Let's be clear, most people driving souped-up drift cars or muffler-altered Harleys are perfectly lovely, normal folks. Just as people with neck tattoos and pit bulls aren't necessarily criminals, we can't lump people into large generalizations and, more importantly, correlation is not the same as causation.
I also mean no disrespect to Harleys, they are pretty awesome bikes. And while I don't like Ninjas or any plastic-covered Japanese-style racing bikes, the “naked” style bikes that have you sitting more upright such as my friend's Aprilia are pretty tempting. But these two-wheeled vehicles are appealing despite their noise, not because of it.
This study, however, is fascinating as it looks at each of the dark tetrad traits, their correlation to antisocial and criminal attitudes, and how that might correlate to the loud-car-scale aggregate.
“[B]ecause typically modifications to vehicles represent criminal activity, it was predicted that sadism and psychopathy would positively predict the aggregate of the car items,” according to the summary of the article's hypothesis. It should be noted that “criminal activity” points to the fact that in most jurisdictions, modifications such as discussed are illegal. But it's an odd choice of words because while it might be a violation of some motor vehicle legislation, therefore is illegal, I'm not sure where it is “criminal” to modify a muffler.
“In addition, it was predicted that narcissism would positively predict the car scale because making their car louder directs attention from others to that car and, by extension, the driver. This 'look at me' behaviour is reflective of narcissism. Machiavellianism was not predicted to be a strong predictor of the aggregate of the car items.”
So, what were the results?
“Using linear regression, the car aggregate was predicted by being a man and having higher scores on psychopathy and sadism, with the model accounting for approximately 29 per cent of the variance.”
That's a science-y way of saying that, yes, intentionally altering a vehicle to be louder than necessary or legal is “significantly” predictive of psychopathy and sadism “and supported the hypotheses based on the links between these dark dimensions and criminal intentions and antisocial attitudes.”
Somewhat surprisingly to me, the car aggregate did not predict narcissism as the researchers hypothesized, but they did discuss the fact that it's possible different questions might have needed to be asked to get to that. If participants were asked, say, about an audience or people noticing their loud car, narcissism might have registered higher.
Age was not hugely significant but leaned towards younger people whereas gender data leaned significantly towards men.
People who drive loud motorcycles often defend the practice, usually with two bits of flawed logic: it gives them a sense of freedom, and it's safer to be loud.
“The freedom argument has never worked for me,” according to Victoria Times Colonist driving columnist John Decker. “Why obey any law then, if you think it interferes with your idea of what freedom is all about? That argument also collapses when your freedom threatens my own use of public space, including my freedom not to have to insert earplugs when you cruise by.”
As for it being safer because they can be heard, nonsense. Firstly, if the sound is your loud muffler, that is aimed backwards so doesn't help much with traffic coming up, which should be your concern. Secondly, it cuts both ways, if it's that loud, you can't hear emergency vehicles' sirens.
As for my off-the-cuff poll, almost all my answers seem to be wrong given that I focused on narcissism and feelings of self-loathing whereas it's much darker than I imagined. I guess "D. Sociopathy" is the closest to the truth.
“Future research may want to examine the possible predictive power of empathy with respect to operating loud cars,” the study concluded. Indeed.
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Paul J. Henderson
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