Intervening to Manage Anger: Road Rage

Scope of activities Feedback to employees and groups of employees Self-evaluation and awareness

Triggers, thoughts, reactions Reasoning Attribution

Information provision Why get angry and consequences Understand the process of anger and escalation

Skills help individuals to identify the beginning signs of frustration and

what they can do about it Change to norms

Increase importance ascribed to safety values Pro-social norms

Self-evaluation and awareness

Identify the triggers

What cheeses me off??? Context – road and off-road Activity to identify the potential triggers

(individual approach – debrief as a group) Document Usual responses

Other cutting in Changing lanes without indicating Dangerous maneuvers

ANGER ZONE CALM ZONE

TRIGGERS THOUGHTS REACTIONS THOUGHTS/REASONS

Cutting in

Dangerous maneuvers

Identify the cognitions - others What are the things you are thinking as

people do things the annoy you? Individual identification and/or collated and

documented as a group Context = road Usual responses

Swearing about other person That’s dangerous That person needs to taught a lesson

ANGER ZONE CALM ZONE

TRIGGERS THOUGHTS REACTIONS THOUGHTS/REASONS

Cutting in

Dangerous maneuvers

Idiot

Teach a lesson

Get them back

Identify the behaviours

What do you do when others annoy you and you have these (negative) thoughts?

Individual activity with responses collated and documented as a group

Usual responses include Chase the person (to teach as lesson) Give them the finger Yell out at them Try to catch up to do any of the above and more

(elicit a chase)

ANGER ZONE CALM ZONE

TRIGGERS THOUGHTS REACTIONS THOUGHTS/REASONS

Cutting in

Dangerous maneuvers

Idiot

Teach a lesson

Get them back

Chase

Gesture

Yell

Cut off

Reasoning

Pose a series of questions Is it ok to think and behave in this way? What are our individual justifications? Do they make sense?

If ambulance cuts in – what are we thinking and what do we do? If others do it (e.g.., not an ambulance, what are we thinking and

what do we do? Why does this make sense? What is it that is different about the ambulance example?

THOUGHTS Our responses (in terms of behaviours) are MODERATED by our

thoughts – we can be driven by our thoughts to change our responses to triggers

The responsibility is OURS as individuals

Identify cognitions - us

Not all perfect – have drifted lanes, run a red light, cut in front of someone

What are the reasons that we use when we do it? Usual responses

In a rush Thinking about something else In a rush Distracted by something on the radio On the phone Already in an argument

ANGER ZONE CALM ZONE

TRIGGERS THOUGHTS REACTIONS THOUGHTS/REASONS

Cutting in

Dangerous maneuvers

Idiot

Teach a lesson

Get them back

Chase

Gesture

Yell

Cut off

In a rush

Thinking about something else

Attribution Focal concept in self-management of anger Others - we attribute their behaviour to them

personally ‘the person is bad/wrong/flawed in some way’

Us – attribute our behaviour more globally ‘we are doing it because something else is going on that is causing us to act in that way’

There is an unbalanced perspective that polarizes our cognitions – defends our own rights and behaviours as individuals

A fundamental reason for angry situations to develop on the roads

Information provision

Why do we get angry on the road? Anonymity in a traffic situation Sensation seeking In an angry mood already Belief that have superior driving skills In a rush Traffic congestion

Consequences

Image of organisation Legal issues Criminal offence Injury to self or others Fines Loss of position in organisation Family impact

The ‘ANGER’ Process Natural physiological reaction – hard to handle Anger trajectory - imagine 0 to 100 scale Escalation happens quickly Starts with frustration What happens when get frustrated?

Clenched fists, teeth Increased heart rate Sweating/feeling hot Trembling Shallow/rapid breath

At about 40, anger escalates – takes off in terms of the severity of the emotion and in terms of the ability to be able to control the emotions being experienced

Anger – what can’t we do

Can’t teach others a lesson 5 second exchange at best – no real form of verbal or

nonverbal communication Can’t communicate the message you want to in the

available time Can’t communicate safely Can’t control others behaviour

Might want to but just can’t Enough trouble managing our own in an angry exchange

Skills

Anger before hitting the “40” mark More control over this part of the process Interventions

Awareness of body cues Clenched fists, teeth Increased heart rate Sweating/feeling hot Trembling Shallow/rapid breath

Thought replacement Think ‘green light’ thoughts – that is, replace the angry

cognitions with the cognitions or reasons that were identified with regard to why ‘we’ do things that could make others angry

EG – ‘maybe they’re lost’, ‘I think that person is a bit distracted – let’s just get out of the way’

After hitting the 40 mark

Much harder to control Need to work on reducing the physiology of

the anger process Interventions include

All others that were identified for below the 40 mark

Count to ten Calming self talk Slow and deep breathing

Hook

Heart attack patient intervention About identifying and not responding to

triggers Come up against about 30 potential triggers

in any one day If respond to all – become very angry –

useless responses though as many of these events won’t be remembered by the end of the day

Hook imagery

Fish – swimming in a stream If fish bites on every hook, is not going to live

long Fundamental notion

Swim on by, ignore the triggers Replace ‘anger zone’ with ‘calm zone’ (more

rational) thoughts

Changing norms

Changing norms

Increase importance ascribed to prosocial driving behaviours

Develop a culture of safe and pro-social driving Sorry Thank-you Doing nothing Wave

Culture Change Strategic Action Steps

1. Identify small wins2. Generate social support - empower agents3. Provide information and feedback4. Measure - record5. Explain why 6. Implement symbolic change as well as substantive

change

Overall

Have the responsibility to control our own responses

Accept that responsibility Elect to choose control rather than losing

control THINK about what you are thinking –

examine your thoughts THINK about what you are doing – does it

achieve anything? – who is it helping?