Your Bumper Stickers Increase Road Rage, In You

road rage Apparently, the number of bumper stickers you have on you’re car can predict how likely you are to participate in road rage type behavior, . And it doesn’t even matter what the stickers say. “If You Can Read This Bumper Sticker, Go F**k Yourself” is as much a risk as “My Son’s An Honor Roll Douche.”

According to Psychologist William Szlemko and his colleagues at Colorado State University, bumper stickers act as territorial markers for our cars. In our subconscious monkey brains (damn dirty apes!), the more we personalize and identify with our cars as ‘our space,’ the more likely we are to show aggression when we think that the space is being threatened. It’s not just bumper stickers either. Anything that personalizes the car, such as seat covers, bobble heads and even fuzzy dice can lead to an increased protection instinct. (more…)