Psychologist Julie Aitken Shermer of the University of Western Ontario in Canada interviewed and analyzed the responses of more than 500 people to investigate the relationship between «dark» personality traits and a love of loud cars with modified mufflers.
«Since these muffler modifications disturb people and animals, and are illegal in some jurisdictions…understanding who wants their car to sound louder is an interesting research question,» Shermer wrote in Psychology Today.
The average age of the respondents was — 18 years old, 52% of them were men. The respondents were asked about their attitudes toward loud cars and muffler modifications, and were additionally asked to fill out the Dark Triad, a 28-item scale measuring personality traits of Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, and sadism.
Shermer said that she often encounters loud cars when she walks her dog, and suggested that the desire to modify the muffler to make it more audible could be linked to a desire to attract attention.
«We found that a tendency toward sadism and psychopathy distinguishes those who want to modify their mufflers, who feel more connected to their vehicle, and who think loud cars —are really cool,— says Shermer. «They probably get a kick out of watching people get scared».
Finally, higher scores in the desire for a loud car showed a connection with each of the dark triad traits (although only slightly in the case of Machiavellianism and narcissism, which is not the case with sadism).
Although the study provides some insights, there are, of course, caveats. The participants in this small sample were relatively young, and all were studying for a business degree at the same university, so Shermer’s findings may not apply to the broader population. Also, the study only asked respondents about their desire to own loud cars, but they did not actually own them; and other loud vehicles such as motorcycles were not surveyed.
The study was published in Current Issues in Personality Psychology (via Science Alert).