Reading time: 2 minutes – Spotted on Science Alert
Noise is a bit like children or farts: you only put up with your own. (Sorry, but it was Pierre Desproges who said that, unless it was Frédéric Dard.) Motorcycle or car engines that suddenly start to roar in public spaces are unbearable. And this often very male problem has also ended up interest the scientific community.
Based at the University of Western Ontario (southeastern Canada), psychologist Julie Aitken Schermer carried out a study based on half a thousand people, in order to determine what the report of some of them could mean. between us with regard to the vehicles they own (or could own) and in particular their noises. The conclusion is not pricked by cockchafers.
“Because exhaust modifications disturb people and animals, and because they are illegal in some jurisdictions, “Understanding who wants their vehicle to make noise is an interesting research topic.”writes the researcher for Psychology Today magazine.
However, it turns out that, as we learn from the online media ScienceAlert, people who dream of causing their machine to backfire (whether they actually do it or not) frequently present high levels of sadism and psychopathy.
Men too
To achieve her goals, Julie Aitken Schermer questioned 529 business students, 52% of whom were men, about their relationship with their car. The questions covered both the noise of the vehicles and their emotional connection with their car, as well as any modifications to the exhaust pipes carried out.
Then, the guinea pigs were asked to respond to the Dark Tetrad Shorts, a test intended to detect their dark side. Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, sadism, lack of empathy: many criteria have been scrutinized. Comparing the results of the two parts of the experiment allowed us to produce striking results.
These have made it possible to establish that high degrees of sadism and psychopathy are linked to the fact “to want to modify your exhaust, to feel connected to your vehicle and to think that noisy cars are really coolexplains Julie Aitken Schermer to the Canadian audiovisual media CBC News/Radio-Canada. It shows a disregard and lack of sensitivity towards other people and how they feel.”
According to his results, men are also much more likely to want to make their car noisier and to be ready to tamper with their exhaust in order to increase the decibels.
