It was hypothesized that commuting would elevate blood pressure and lower frustration tolerance. This hypothesis was tested by assessing postcommute behavior of 168 paid volunteers in a true experiment whose factors were type of commute (drive vs. ride vs. control), direction of commute (North vs. South), gender (male vs. female), and choice (salient vs. nonsalient). Multivariate analyses of variance indicated that subjects who drove 48 km or rode a bus the same distance evidenced less frustration tolerance than noncommuting control subjects. Commuting also raised pulse and systolic blood pressure. Multivariate analyses of covariance were performed in an effort to identify physiological and emotional responses that might mediate relations between commuting and frustration tolerance. It is concluded that variables other than affect and arousal are responsible for behavioral aftereffects.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aronow, W. S. , Harris, C. N., Isbell, M. W., Rokaw, S. N., & Imparato, B. (1972). Effect of freeway travel on angina pectoris. Annals of Internal Medicine, 77, 669-676.
2.
Bandura, A. (1982). Self-efficacy mechanisms in human agency. American Psychologist, 37, 122-147.
3.
Baron, R. A. , & Richardson, D. R. (1994). Human aggression (2nd ed.). New York: Plenum.
4.
Campbell, J. M. (1983). Ambient stressors. Environment and Behavior, 15, 355-380.
5.
Cohen, S. (1978). Environmental load and the allocation of attention. In A. Baum, J. E. Singer, & S. Valins (Eds.), Advances in environmentalpsychology: The urban environment (Vol. 1, pp. 1-29). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
6.
Cohen, S. (1980). Aftereffects of stress on human performance and social behavior: A review of research and theory. Psychological Bulletin, 88, 82-108.
7.
Cook, T. D. , & Campbell, D. T. (1979). Quasi-experimentation: Design and analysis issuesfor field settings. Geneva, IL: Houghton Mifflin.
8.
Costa, G. , Pickup, L., & DiMartino, V. (1988). Commuting-a further stress factor for working people: Evidence from the European community. Il. An empirical study. International Archives of Occupational-Environmental Health, 60, 377-385.
9.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. , & LeFevre, J. (1989). Optimal experience in work and leisure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 815-822.
10.
Davidson, L. M. , Hagman, J., & Baum, A. (1990). An exploration of a possible physiological explanation for stressor aftereffects. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 20, 869-880.
11.
Dubitsky, S. , Weber, R., & Rotton, J. (1993). Heat, hostility, and immune function: The moderating effects of gender and demand characteristics. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 31, 534-536.
12.
Evans, G. W. (1979). Behavioral and physiological consequences of crowding in humans. Journal ofApplied Social Psychology, 9, 27-46.
13.
Evans, G. W. , & Cohen, S. (1987). Environmental stress. In D. Stokols & I. Altman (Eds.), Handbook of environmental psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 571-610). New York: John Wiley.
14.
Evans, G. W. , & Lepore, S. J. (1997). Moderating and mediating processes in environment-behavior research. In G. T. Moore & R. W. Marans (Eds.), Advances in environment, behavior, and design (Vol. 4, pp. 255-285). New York: Plenum.
15.
Feather, N. T. (1961). The relationship of persistence at a task to expectation of success and achievement related motives. Journal ofAbnormal and Social Psychology, 63, 552-561.
16.
Gardner, G. T. (1978). Effects of federal human subjects regulations on data obtained in environmental stressor research. Journal ofPersonality and Social Psychology, 36, 628-634.
17.
Glass, D. C. , & Singer, J. E. (1972). Urban stress: Experiments on noise and social stressors. New York: Academic Press.
18.
Greve, E (1997, August 13). A nation in gridlock inquires: Why is it called "rush hour"?Miami Herald, p. 2A-2A.
19.
Hennessy, D. A. , & Wiesenthal, D. L. (1997). The relationship between traffic congestion, driver stress, and direct versus indirect coping behaviours. Ergonomics, 40, 348-361.
20.
Klein, K. , & Beith, B. (1985). Re-examination of residual arousal as an explanation of after effects: Frustration tolerance versus response speed. Journal of Applied Psychology, 70, 642-650.
21.
Koslowsky, M. (1997). Commuting stress: Problems of definition and variable identification. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 46, 153-173.
22.
Koslowsky, M. , Kluger, A. N., & Reich, M. (1995). Commuting stress: Causes, effects, and methods of coping. New York: Plenum.
23.
Koslowsky, M. , & Krausz, M. (1993). On the relationship between commuting, stress symptoms, and attitudinal measures: A LISREL application. Journal ofApplied Behavioral Science, 29, 485-492.
24.
Krantz, D. S. , & Manuck, S. B. (1984). Acute physiologic reactivity and risk of cardiovascular disease: A review and methodologic critique. Psychological Bulletin, 96, 435-464.
25.
Mehrabian, A. , & Russell, J. A. (1974). An approach to environmental psychology. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
26.
Novaco, R. W. (1991). Aggression on roadways. In R. Baenninger (Ed.), Targets of violence and aggression (pp. 253-326). New York: Elsevier North-Holland.
27.
Novaco, R. W. (1992). Automobile driving and aggressive behavior. In M. Wachs & M. Crawford (Eds.), The car and the city: The automobile, the built environment, and daily urban life (pp. 234-247). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
28.
Novaco, R. W. , & Collier, C. (1994). Commuting stress, ridesharing, and gender: Analyses from the 1993 state of the commute study in Southern Califomia. Transportation Board Research, 1433, 170-176.
29.
Novaco, R. W. , Stokols, D., Campbell, J., & Stokols, J. (1979). Transportation, stress, and community psychology. American Journal of Community Psychology, 7, 361-380.
30.
Novaco, R. W. , Stokols, D., & Milanesi, L. (1990). Objective and subjective dimensions oftravel impedance as determinants of commuting stress. American Journal of Community Psychology, 18, 231-257.
31.
Repetti, R. L. (1993). Short-term effects of occupational stressors on daily mood and health complaints. Health Psychology, 12, 125-131.
32.
Rotton, J. (1983). Affective and cognitive consequences of malodorous pollution. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 4, 171-191.
33.
Rotton, J. , Olszewski, D., Charleton, M., & Soler, E. (1978). Loud speech, conglomerate noise, and behavioral aftereffects. Journal ofApplied Psychology, 63, 360-365.
34.
Schaeffer, M. H. , Street, S. W., Singer, J. E., & Baum, A. (1988). Effects of control on the stress reactions of commuters. Journal ofApplied Social Psychology, 18, 944-957.
35.
Simonson, E. , Baker, C., Burns, N., Keiper, C., Schmitt, O. H., & Stackhouse, S. (1968). Cardiovascular stress (electrocardiographic changes) produced by driving an automobile. American Heart Journal, 75, 125-135.
36.
Skinner, E. A. (1996). A guide to constructs of control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 549-570.
37.
Sleek, S. (1996, September). Car wars: Taming drivers' aggression. APA Monitor, 27, 1-1, 13-13.
38.
Spacapan, S. , & Cohen, S. (1983). Effects and aftereffects of stressor expectations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 1243-1254.
39.
Stokols, D. , & Novaco, R. W. (1981). Transportation and well-being: An ecological perspective. In I. Altman & J. F. Wohlwill (Eds.), Human behavior and environment: Transportation and behavior (Vol. 6, pp. 85-130). New York: Plenum.
40.
Stokols, D. , Novaco, R. W., Stokols, J., & Campbell, J. (1978). Traffic congestion, Type A behavior, and stress. Journal ofApplied Psychology, 63, 467-480.
41.
Thompson, S. C. (1981). Will it hurt less if I can control it? A complex answer to a simple question. Psychological Bulletin, 90, 89-101.
42.
Veitch, J. A. , Gifford, R., & Hine, D. W. (1991).Demand characteristics and full spectrum lighting effects on performance and mood. Journal ofEnvironmental Psychology, 11, 87-95.
43.
Vest, J. , Cohen, W., & Tharp, M. (1997, June 2). Road rage. U.S. News & World Report, 122, 24-35, 28-30.
44.
Zillmann, D. (1994). Cognition-excitation interdependencies in the escalation of anger and angry aggression. In M. Portegal & J. F. Knutson (Eds.), The dynamics of aggression: Biological and social processes in dyads and groups (pp. 45-71). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
