WHAT TYPE OF PERSON DRIVES A LUXURY CAR?
If you’re thinking disagreeable narcissists, science is on your side, David Booth writes.
Not only a-holes drive Mercedes.
The above is not an opinion, but a quote. More emphatically, it’s the title of a scientific paper published in the International Journal of Psychology by the Swedish School of Social Science at the University of Helsinki.
And according to the press material surrounding this (only slightly) contentious conclusion, Jan-Erik Lönnqvist, professor of social psychology, has made the same anecdotal conclusion about Audi and BMW drivers as well — namely that owners of German luxury cars are more likely to ignore traffic laws.
“I had noticed that the ones most likely to run a red light, not give way to pedestrians, and generally drive recklessly and too fast were often the ones driving fast German cars,” says Lönnqvist.
Who among us hasn’t made the same observation? The difference is that Lönnqvist is a university professor of social science at a school of social science in a country that prides itself on, well, social equality.
So, he authored a study of
1,892 car owners in a Five Factor Model — measuring openness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, extroversion and agreeableness — to determine whether wealth and personality traits affect driving habits. And the conclusions were hardly surprising.
“Self-centred men who are argumentative, stubborn, disagreeable and unempathetic are much more likely to own a high-status car such as an Audi, BMW or Mercedes.”
Making sure that we don’t mistake his conclusions, Lönnqvist goes on to say “these personality traits explain the desire to own high-status products, and the same traits also explain why such people break traffic regulations more frequently than others.”
Now, the study posits several reasons for their misbehaviour. Much of it sounds like psychobabble to me, but the authors seem to blame narcissism
— more specifically, the disinhibited variety (unrestrained, low-frustration tolerance, aggression and antagonism toward people, social norms and obligations) and the sensation-seeking (impulsive, stimulation seeking) — for this flouting of traffic laws. Indeed, the trait from the Five Factor Model examination the authors seem to focus on is “agreeableness,” saying it “has been inversely associated with aggressive driving behaviour, moving violations, motor-vehicle accidents and losses of vehicular control,” and that those scoring especially low in agreeableness much preferred prestigious brands.
Defenders of the (rich) faith will no doubt note that the cost of the average high-status automobile necessitates a certain degree of wealth, and be tempted to blame such poor driving habits on the corruptive powers of wealth. Lönnqvist nips that notion in the bud, pointing out that “a high-status car is not only indicative of high socio-economic status, but also of underlying personality traits.”
The study concluded “those whose personality was deemed more disagreeable were more drawn to high-status cars. These are people who often see themselves as superior and are keen to display this to others.”
The researchers did find some countervailing evidence.
The second part of the study’s title is “Besides disagreeable men, also conscientious people drive high-status cars.” Indeed, according to Lönnqvist, conscientious people — who are, as a rule, respectable, ambitious, reliable and well-organized — are also drawn to high-status cars.
These conscientious types included both male and female owners of high-status automobiles. In contrast, the study took great pains to point out that the connection between self-centred personalities and high-status cars was only found among men.
One could, if one felt insulted, try to blow holes in Lönnqvist’s study. It was conducted solely on Finnish men, and it could be possible only male Finnish luxury-car owners are self-centred narcissists (for the record, I think this is one that we males have to take on the chin).
Still, who of us has not ascribed a certain lack of modesty or humbleness among the owners of luxury automobiles?
At least now, we appear to have some scientific proof.