Chapter 2 - The Psychology of the Car

Abstract

This chapter provides the theoretical framing of the book, including perspectives from geography, sociology, and psychology. It describes how car cultures have subsequently emerged and continue to shape society, to the degree that personal identities no longer evolve independently of the automotive system. Car choices and mobility patterns are now embedded in a complex system of provision and demand that has “social, material, affective, political, aesthetic, kinaesthetic and sensory dimensions” (Schwanen and Lucas, 2011 p. 22:). This chapter reviews contributions made by different disciplines to the understanding of automobile affection, and opens up for a more comprehensive transport psychology that considers insights from social psychology, evolutionary psychology, and clinical psychology. It argues that the car's importance in contemporary society can only be understood against the background of (perceived) utility in instrumental, symbolic, and affective dimensions, as well as its role in emotions, sexuality, sociality, rights, authority, risk, and death.