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This paper is available on sci-hub.
It's based on three surveys:
> Study 1
> The study participants were 178 university students (127 female, 51 male) who were 18 to 42 years of age (M = 20.8 years, SD = 3.0). Participants who owned a vehicle completed the survey for extra credit in a 200-level Psycho- logical Methods course. The extra credit was equal to less than 1% of their total grades, with approximately 90% of students participating.
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> Study 2
> The study participants were 203 students (119 female, 84 male) who were enrolled in an introductory psychology class and who owned a vehicle. The students completed the study as part of a course research requirement. Participants ranged in age from 17 to 43 years (M = 18.7 years, SD = 2.0). Participants were predominantly Caucasian (88.7%). Other ethnicities included Native American/Alaska Native (0.5%), African American (2.0%), Asian (4.4%), and Latino (4.4%). All vehicles were manufactured between 1966 and 2005 (Mdn = 1996; mode = 2002), and length of ownership ranged from 2 weeks to 15 years (M = 26.8 months, SD = 22.0).
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> Study 3
> Study participants were 69 students (38 female, 31 male) who participated in the study in partial fulfillment of a research requirement for an introduc- tory psychology class. The participants were all between the ages of 18 and 22 years (M = 18.8, SD = 1.2). All students owned their own vehicles. The vehicles were all manufactured between 1978 and 2004 (Mdn = 1997; mode = 2002). Time of ownership ranged from 2 months to 13.3 years (M = 26.2 months, SD = 22.2). As with the other studies—and characteristic of this university—the sample was pre- dominantly Caucasian (87.0%). Other ethnicities included Latino (5.8%) and Asian (7.2%).
By griffzhowl 2025-09-0119:552 reply I remember someone, I think it was Joseph Heinrich, pointing out that a lot of psychology should really be thought of as "psychology of the contemporary American undergrad", since these are the most-studied population
By HPsquared 2025-09-0120:30 aka the Streetlight effect.
'A policeman sees a drunk man searching for something under a streetlight and asks what the drunk has lost. He says he lost his keys and they both look under the streetlight together. After a few minutes the policeman asks if he is sure he lost them here, and the drunk replies, no, and that he lost them in the park. The policeman asks why he is searching here, and the drunk replies, "this is where the light is".'
By Animats 2025-09-0121:40 Or worse, people on Mechanical Turk.
Bad sample populations are a huge problem. There's only one really good study on sexual behavior in in the US, called "Sex in America, a definitive survey".[1] It was expensive, but they did it right. They used a random process to select a large number of regions across the US, then random individuals within those regions. There was a mailed survey, followed up by a phone survey, followed up by visits by interviewers, followed up if necessary by paying people to do the survey. The result was 90%+ participation. That's how you overcome selection bias.
The main result is that, for the overall population, sex is rather mundane.
[1] https://archive.org/details/sexinamericadefi00mich/mode/2up
By anticorporate 2025-09-0119:26 I suspect there's a similar link between a vehicle's noise level and driver aggression, although I suppose intentionally loud cars are just another territorial marker.
By james_marks 2025-09-0119:521 reply Anecdotal, but if you keep an eye out for people with damage to their car, they will often be almost causing a collision that would hit the same spot.
I tend to think of it that they didn’t learn the lesson, although I suppose a more charitable version is they they didn’t actually make contact this time.
By xnx 2025-09-025:29 Car damage tells you a lot: They been in an accident before. They're not concerned or able to repair their vehicle. They have less to lose since their vehicle is already damaged.
