Fact Check: Are Men Really More Aggressive Drivers?

It’s common knowledge that men tend to have higher auto insurance rates, and part of the reason for this is that  they are thought to be more aggressive drivers. In other words, they are believed to be more likely to do things like…

  • indicate hostility to other drivers,
  • honk their horns at another driver, or even
  • chase other cars

So do men do those things more often than women?

Well in short, yes.

Here’s how we know.

In 2005, Roberts and Indermaur found that men were almost eight times more likely than females to be perpetrators in an act of driving violence. At the same time, though, men were also significantly more likely to have been threatened by another driver while on the road. In fact, they found that one in five males reported being victims of what could be classified as criminal road rage compared to merely one in 14 females. Meanwhile, in a more recent study, Wickens and colleagues found that while both men and women confessed to being perpetrators as far as shouting, swearing, and making rude gestures, men were still more likely to execute such acts.

One of the bigger questions one needs to answer regarding whether or not males are truly more aggressive drivers is: what makes one driver more aggressive than another? Researchers have found that younger drivers, both male and female, tend to be more aggressive than older drivers. Additionally, consistent with these findings, Wickens and colleagues (2012) have also found that males still tend to partake in more aggressive driving than females do, despite their age (as shown below; Wickens, Mann, Stoduto, Butters, Ialomiteanu, & Smart, 2012).

Capture

In addition to aggressive driving and perpetrating acts of violence when driving, males admitted receiving more fines, committing more traffic violations, and being involved in more accidents in the previous five years than females (González-Iglesias, Gómez-Fraguela, & Luengo-Martín, 2012).

Taken together, the data reveals that while both men and women can be aggressive drivers, men are more likely to be aggressive drivers than women.

By Gracie Kellow
Gracie is a senior at UWGB who plans on graduating in December 2016 as a Psychology major with a mental health emphasis and a minor in Human Development. After graduation, she plans on attending law school.


González-Iglesias, B., Gómez-Fraguela, J., & Luengo-Martín, M. &. (2012). Driving anger and traffic violations: Gender differences. Transportation Research, 404-412. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2012.03.002

Roberts, L., & Indermaur, D. (2005). Boys and road rage: Driving-related violence and aggression in western Australia. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 38, 361-380. http://dx.doi.org/10.1375/acri.38.3.361

Wickens, C., Mann, R., Stoduto, G., Butters, J., Ialomiteanu, A., & Smart, R. (2012). Does gender moderate the relationship between driver aggression and its risk factors? Accident Analysis and Prevention, 45, 10-18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2011.11.013