If you drive an expensive car you're probably a jerk, scientists say | Hacker News Reader

If you drive an expensive car you're probably a jerk, scientists say

cnn.com

29 pointscratermoon17 comments

>study published last month that found that men who own flashy vehicles are more likely to be "argumentative, stubborn, disagreeable and unempathetic." According to that survey of 1,892 drivers by the University of Helsinki, those deemed to have more disagreeable character traits were "more drawn to high-status cars.

I mean, this has such a long history as a stereotype that it isn't really surprising, and I think it has probably reached a 'meta' stage a while ago where people are avoiding 'high status' cars and actually go for environmentally conscious cars or even avoid using cars as a means to convey genuine status. Seeing someone in a flashy expensive sportscar these days is almost consciously douchey.

Then driving an expensive car is a sufficient but not a necessary condition for being a jerk. Full disclosure, I'm not a scientist or logician, and I drive a Prius. :)

The Prius stereotype is camping the left lane and generally just driving slow.

I think a lot of Prius drivers see that engine power meter on the dash as a video game to always stay in the "ECO" range and never enter the "PWR" band, even if it means going 10 mph under the limit.

I suspect this too. I once rented a Prius, and the first thing I noticed is how much the car focuses on its fuel economy. The car really makes you aware of each time that you aren't driving very efficiently.

Price should not be conflated with quality, which I think this article may be doing in it's closing statement:

>But he also found people with "conscientious" characters seek out pricey models, too. >"People with this type of personality are, as a rule, respectable, ambitious, reliable and well-organised," the statement said. "They take care of themselves and their health and often perform well at work."

Seems to me those people may be seeking quality and build sophistication.

Even the term "quality" is subjective.

I equate "quality" with long-term reliability, something BMW is known for not having, so I wouldn't consider BMWs to be quality cars.

So... the last (and only?) quality car was the DeLorean?

My 1996 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck is still going, with around 400,000km on it, and just regular maintenance, except for the time someone stole the catalytic converter and I had to have it replaced.

DeLoreans didn't even have short-term reliability.

So I've heard... the DeLorean came to mind, because AFAIK, it's the only mass-produced car ever(?) to have a stainless steel chassis, theoretically making it thus immune to corrosion.

Correction: "[...]and stood out for its gull-wing doors and brushed stainless-steel outer body panels, as well as an innovative fiberglass body structure with a steel backbone chassis."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMC_DeLorean

Agreed. A lot of Lexus's are also high quality relative to other cars, but they're also grossly overpriced since you can buy the same quality at half the price with a Toyota badge.

You need to read some Pirsig. Quality is anything but subjective.

I'm wondering how much context plays role in this perception — for example, I'm from Europe and find it somewhat confusing when people from USA talk about BMW/VW as utterly unreliable; here, it's the reverse — people equate VW cars as reliable and unpretentious, while BMW reliable and having great driving dynamics. Many people do consider BMW/VW as well-engineered/well-built quality cars that provide relatively good residuals.

Cars as a status symbol is one of the most facile aspects of modern society. You drive fancy tin, we get it.

BMW drivers never use the turn signal!

It forces you to observe them longer! The elegant car! The wonderful driver! Don't be so cheap, give them some attention!

Seriously, do these people never have the opposite situation happen to them, where they could've driven, but didn't, because someone wasn't using their turn signals? Doesn't this balance itself out? What is wrong with these people, can't they reflect?

EDIT: I just realized, maybe it does happen, and because of that, they'll follow suit instead of laws. I honestly find these type of people pathetic. There have most certainly been cases where lives were lost because people were too lazy to use their turn signals. Pathetic may be too nice.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com