Road Rage is real and it has a name- Accelarousal!

We hear stories all the time about ROAD RAGE. You may have even experienced it yourself, although I hope in a mild way! Well, a group of psychologists at the University of Houston, have given it a new name....if you get angry behind the wheel a lot, you may be experiencing "accelerousal."

“We call the phenomenon ‘accelerousal.’ Arousal is a psychological term that describes stress. Accelarousal is what we identify as stress provoked by acceleration events, even small ones,” explains study leader and UH Professor Ioannis Pavlidis in a university release.

“It may be partly due to genetic predisposition,” he adds. “It was a very consistent behavior, which means, in all likelihood, this is an innate human characteristic.” In other words...these psychologists think that "accelerousal" might be genetic. So your parents might be the reason you're "acceleroused."

People who experience it deal with about 50% more stress than drivers who don't. And even small things can trigger accelerousal . . . like having to hit the brakes for a red light.

The study appears in the journal Association for Computing Machinery.


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content