Do Bumper Stickers Contribute to Road Rage?
Bottom Line: Imagine you're cruising on I-95, minding your own business, when suddenly an orange sedan swerves erratically in front of you, cutting you off and forcing you to slam on the brakes (actually, you probably don’t have to imagine, that’s probably happening to you right now). Anyway, heart racing, you glance at the car's bumper—and there it is: a sticker proudly declaring "Proud Democrat" or "Proud Republican". If that sticker clashes with your own political leanings, does it make you more likely to lay on the horn in rage or to drive more aggressively in response? According to a clever study entitled: How do drivers react to partisan bumper stickers? Understanding polarization in apolitical settings... The answer is yes.
In their experiment, published in Frontiers in Political Science, researchers set out to explore how political polarization spills into everyday life, far from the voting booth. They recruited nearly 900 participants online and plunged them into virtual driving scenarios. Using animated dashcam videos, participants "experienced" encounters with this pesky orange car. Sometimes the car drove smoothly; other times, it weaved dangerously. The bumper might be blank, sport a neutral "I Love My Dog" message, or flaunt a partisan slogan. To add layers, they flashed fake driver's licenses afterward, varying the other driver's race and gender—testing if biases amplified the drama.
The twist? When the driving was good, stickers barely registered; no one really cared. But in bad driving situations, an out-party sticker (one opposing the viewer's politics) ignited hostility. Participants were 20% more likely to respond aggressively—and rated the driver cooler on a feeling thermometer, dropping from 69 to 53 degrees of warmth. In-party stickers? No boost in kindness. Neutral ones? Meh, no real difference.
Digging deeper, the researchers probed racial angles and gender angles: Drivers were slightly less tolerant of drivers of a differing race and/or gender. Notably, the study also studied whether bumper stickers had any persuasive impact. The answer was a resounding no. There was no measure impact on bumper sticker messaging having an impact on one’s political opinions.
Effectively, in a polarized America, where partisan divides fuel everything from family feuds to social snubs, bumper stickers aren’t going to sway anyone to your position, however they may result in more hostility being directed towards you. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t have them, after all this is commentary about people becoming unreasonably triggered, however it is worth noting that if you do have them, it’s best to be on your best driving behavior or you'll likely be at greater risk of a road rage response.