Running head: GENDER DIFFERENCES AND USING SIGNAL LIGHTS

Transcription

1 Gender Differences 1 Running head: GENDER DIFFERENCES AND USING SIGNAL LIGHTS Gender Differences and Using Signal Lights of a Vehicle When Turning 7401 Evergreen Valley College

2 Gender Differences 2 Abstract In order to determine whether people follow simple safe driving rules, I went to an intersection to observe whether people would turn on their signal lights upon making a turn. I observed 40 vehicles (20 driven by men and 20 driven by females). I calculated the frequencies of the times vehicles used their signal lights for each gender and found no significant difference between them (p >.05), contrary to my prediction that females would turn on their signal lights before making a turn at the intersection more often than men.

3 Gender Differences 3 Gender Differences and Using Signal Lights of a Vehicle When Turning Not every individual complies with laws, especially traffic laws. There have been many studies on social deviance and violation behaviors. For instance, Lawton et al. (1997) conducted a series of studies to find out if minor social deviance correlates to traffic violation behaviors. They interviewed a group of participants and found that most of the participants who admitted that they would violate a law if there would be no consequences also had a record of violation behavior. In other countries, there have been studies on social deviance and violation behavior. In Chile, traffic accidents are the fifth leading cause of death (Diaz, 1997). Diaz conducted a study that was done to evaluate the attitudes of people towards 12 violation behaviors, such as drunk driving. Diaz discovered that the females in the study, overall, showed a higher level of seriousness towards violation behaviors. My observation relates to these studies because it is about social deviance and traffic violation behaviors as well. I observed 40 vehicles, 20 of which were driven by males and 20 of which were driven by females, to see if they would turn on their signal lights when they were about to turn at an intersection. I hypothesized that more females than males would have their signal lights on when needed at the intersection.

4 Gender Differences 4 Method Participants The participants in this observation consisted of an opportunity sample of 40 drivers (20 males and 20 females) who passed by an intersection in a residential area between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. on a Saturday. Design and Procedure I sat on a curb that faced the intersection where vehicles were driving through from different directions. I checked each vehicle as it passed to see if its signal lights were on before it turned. I continued to do this until I observed a total of 20 vehicles driven by men and 20 driven by women. Results Table 1 shows the frequencies that I observed. The results were not significant χ 2 (1,N=40) = 3.137, p >.05. Table 1. Frequencies of Use of Signal Lights by Gender Used signal lights Did not use signal lights Males 1 19 Females 5 15 Discussion The data did not support my hypothesis that women would turn on their signal lights more than men. I thought that I would get this result because women have a tendency to follow the rules more often than men. Men usually act as rebels and are likely to disobey the rules as a sign of rebellion. Some of this is anecdotal evidence that I have heard from friends and family members and that I have noticed through my own observations.

5 Gender Differences 5 A possible problem with this observation is that my sampling size was too small, thus causing my results to be contradictory to my hypothesis. I may have obtained different results if I had observed more vehicles. Perhaps, in the future, I will redo this observation, but use a larger sampling size.

6 Gender Differences 6 References Diaz, M. E.(1997). Evaluation of traffic violation behaviors and the casual attribution of accidents in Chile. Environment and Behavior, 29 (19) 264. Retrieved October 28, 2008, from Expanded Academic ASAP via Gale Lawton, R., Parker, D., Stradling, G. S., & Manstead, R. S. A. (1997). Predicting road traffic accidents: the role of social deviance and violations. British Journal of Psychology, 88 (14) 249. Retrieved October 28, 2008, from Expanded Academic ASAP via Gale: