Yes, the drivers of those luxury cars that cut you off really do suck. A new study in the Journal of International Psychology finds that many owners of high-status luxury cars are actually a-holes. “The answers were unambiguous: self-centered men who are argumentative, stubborn, disagreeable and un-empathetic are much more likely to own a high-status car such as an Audi, BMW or Mercedes,” say the researchers in a press release.
The study surveyed 1,892 Finnish car owners and also analyzed their personality types, an idea inspired by lead researcher Jan-Erik Lönnqvist’s observation that the drivers “most likely to run a red light, not give way to pedestrians and generally drive recklessly and too fast were often the ones driving fast German cars” such as BMWs, Mercedes, and Audis.
Lönnqvist, a professor of social psychology at the University of Helsinki, instead asked what types of people own these cars. Sure enough, he found that less cooperative, less kind, and less considerate men often drive high-status cars. “The same traits also explain why such people break traffic regulations more frequently than others,” says Lönnqvist. He found no connection between female self-centeredness and luxury cars.