- Men who like especially loud cars are more likely to be psychopaths
- Scientists say they’re probably amused by watching people get scared.
“Boys and their toys” is a phrase often used to joke about men who excessively love their cars.
But a new study has shed a more sinister light on these “guys.”
Researchers at the University of Western Ontario have revealed that men who like especially loud cars are more likely to be psychopaths.
“It seems to be this callous disregard for other people’s feelings and reactions,” lead author Julie Aitken Schermer said in a statement to C.B.S..
“That’s the psychopathy that comes out and they probably also enjoy watching people get scared.”
“Boys and their toys” is a phrase often used to joke about men who excessively love their cars. But a new study has shed a more sinister light on these “children” (archive image)
In the study, researchers set out to understand whether or not there is a link between loud cars and “dark tetrad” personality traits.
These are Machiavellianism (controlled manipulation), narcissism (self-love), and psychopathy (impulsive cruelty toward others).
The team recruited 529 participants (52 percent men and 48 percent women) with an average age of 18 years.
Participants were surveyed about how they felt about their car, their desire to have a loud car, and their willingness to modify their muffler to have an even louder car.
They also completed a 28-item scale assessment to understand their levels of dark tetrad personality traits.
The results revealed that male participants were more likely than female participants to say that they wanted to have a loud car and would be willing to modify their car to make it louder.
The results revealed that male participants were more likely than female participants to say that they wanted to have a noisy car and would be willing to modify their car to make it noisier (stock image).
What’s more, male participants who said they wanted a loud car scored higher on psychopathy.
“Modifying a muffler to make a car sound louder annoys pedestrians, other drivers, and animals at a distance, and meets the sadism component, as well as startling when up close at intersections, which meets the the psychopathy component,” the researchers wrote in their study. , published in Current problems in personality psychology.
Since car modifications are illegal in some countries, the researchers hope the findings could prove useful to authorities trying to stop these activities.
“Aside from legally enforcing laws regarding these car modifications, the current results suggest that other tactics, such as information campaigns, may not be helpful,” they added.
“Those who score higher on psychopathy and sadism are unlikely to be swayed by the fact that modified scarves may be harmful to others.”
