A surveyhas revealed that we all attach emotions to cars based on how they look like faces. Seriously.
Researchers at the University of Vienna quizzed people in Austria and Ethiopia about 26 cars and asked them to attach emotions, personalities and ages to cars and it seems that we look for traits similar to faces and base our answers on those.
Cars with wide radiator grilles and narrow headlights like Maybachs and BMW 6 Series are dominant and aggressive while the Volkswagen Beetle, with its wide windscreen, are deemed to be happy.
The Nissan Micra was seen as the most submissive while the Toyota Aygo was deemed the most childish.
The lead researcher Sonja Windhager also made an interesting point about how this may affect your behaviour on the road.
She said: “We would like to see whether the driving behaviour of other drivers is affected by the shape of a car. Do we change the lane sooner when we see an aggressive looking car in the rear-view mirror?
“Human and animal faces convey much essential information in contexts ranging from predation to social interaction. Face detection and the accurate interpretation at an early stage of an encounter must have been crucial for the survival of our ancestors.
“As a result, we are tempted to see faces almost everywhere, even in clouds, stones and, of course, cars.”
So have ever you seen a BMW come up behind you and pulled over. Or seen a Micra and decided not to bother. And more importantly, do you see any faces in stones?
Full list, courtesy of the Sunday Telegraph:
Dominant:
Maybach
BMW 645ci
Masculine:
Chrysler 300C
BMW 645ci
Feminine:
Nissan Micra
Childish:
Toyota Aygo
Mature:
BMW 3
BMW 645ci
Sad:
Diahatsu Cuore
Kia Picanto
Angry:
Chrysler Crossfire
BMW 645ci
Happy:
New VW Beetle
Mini Cooper
Neurotic:
Honda Civic
Mercedes E Class
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