Territoriality Of Leaving Drivers Essay
Abstract
Two experiments show the territoriality of leaving drivers when children and intrusion are a factor. In Experiment 1, 48 observations were made in a parking lot to measure how long a leaving driver would take to pull out of their parking when there was a waiting driver and no waiting driver. Leaving drivers seemed to leave faster when they were intruded upon. Experiment 1 also measured how long it would take for a departing car with children present to pull out a parking space when there is intrusion and no intrusion. Drivers who had children present would be slower to leave a parking space, indicating they are more territorial. In Experiment 2, a questionnaire was verbally administered to 40 nonrandom, anonymous participants and 3 questions tested negativity of participants, 1 question asked estimated departure times of departing drivers and 1 closed ended question included the independent variable. Participants said they would feel more negative and leave a parking space faster when there is a car waiting. Participants with children revealed that they would be more cautious, and therefore, express stronger …show more content…
territoriality as opposed to the subjects with no children in their vehicles.
Intrusion and Parents with Children on Territoriality in Parking Lots
Understanding relationships between others and spaces is important in understanding intrusion and territoriality. In order to understand territoriality and intrusion, we must answer an important question; do people tend to claim ownership of a public space more when other individuals want it? The study of human territoriality, although generally only applied to places, also provides insight into responses to objects. According to Costa (2012), since one is quite clear about the boundaries of personal space in one’s own mind, one protects these boundaries and enforces these carefully by exercising a stringent control over the area. Personal space is influenced and determined by many factors including gender and age. According to Childress (2004), teens tend to have an increase in aggression when there is a restriction on their territory. A study showed that if people are waiting for that specific public space, they would leave as soon as possible, but if there is frustration while waiting for that space, then people would take longer to leave that area in order to aggravate that individual (Ruback and Juieng, 1997). The aim of the current research was to investigate whether if people would leave a parking space when they knew someone was waiting for that space versus not waiting and this had been based on the findings in a study completed by Ruback and Juieng (1997), which had been done to measure the effects of intrusion on territoriality in parking lots. The current research done also examined the effects of intrusion when children were and were not present in the departing car. In order to understand how territoriality and intrusion were measured, they must be operationally defined. Territoriality, the dependent variable, can be operationally defined as, “the time it takes for the driver’s door to close with the driver inside and the second set of wheels pulling out of the parking space”. Intrusion, the first independent variable, can be operationally defined as, “the waiting driver waiting with their signal on and the leaving driver is either inside or outside their vehicle”. The amount of children, the second independent variable, can be operationally defined as, “the amount of children between the ages of 0-12 traveling with the subject”. Two hypotheses had been addressed in our study; the first hypothesis made had been that the leaving driver would take longer to leave a parking space when intruded upon by the waiting driver, which could be explained by the fact that the leaving driver could be nervous or more cautious and then resulting in a longer time to leave. The second hypothesis made conducted was concluded to be that if the driver has children, they will be more territorial and slower to leave a parking space. One issue in the survey is that for one of the questions, no territoriality was determined because results indicate that there was no territoriality in departing cars with children present when participants were waiting drivers as waiting drivers would be fairly patient. The results for the second hypothesis made could be explained that leaving drivers are more cautious when they have children, therefore will be slower to leave whether intruded upon or not and if waiting drivers are extremely impatient when they see someone with children, they may pull up closer to the departing car, which may increase territoriality in the departing car.ble, can be operationally defined as, “the waiting driver waiting with their signal on and the leaving driver is either inside or outside their vehicle.” The second independent variable we worked with was children and can be operationally defined as, “people between the ages of 0-12 traveling with the subject.”
Experiment 1 (Observational study)
Methods
Participants.
Pilot data collected from a total of 48 participants who are drivers in parking lots and were observed between the times of March 6 2013 and March 12 2013. Children who were present in the leaving car had been between the estimated ages of 0-12.
Materials.
Departure times were recorded with a stopwatch in seconds.
Design.
The design of the observational study had focused on two independent variables, intrusion, the leaving driver, either inside or outside of his/her car, notices the waiting car’s signal and the second independent variable, children, the amount of children present in leaving car between the estimated ages of 0-12. The study had been a 2x2 factorial design, which intrusion and children present each varied between subjects. The dependent variable measured was territoriality of the leaving driver.
Procedure.
In the observational study, a total of 48 observation were made, 13 observations of intrusion with children present (leaving car), 11 observations of no intrusion with children present (leaving car), 12 observations of intrusion without children present (leaving car), and 12 observations of no intrusion without children. Timer started when leaving driver closed car door with him/ her inside and stopped when the second set of wheels of his/her car pulled out of the parking space. Data was input into a computing system called SPSS, which results were then interpreted and analyzed.
Results.
As Figure 1 indicates, intrusion has no effect when children present or not, but it does have an effect on dependent variable territoriality (departure times). Referring to Figure 1, departure times of leaving drivers seem to increase when there are children present in the car, but there is only a slight change in departure times when combining the factors of intrusion and children.
Figure 1.Territoriality as a function of intrusion, with children as a parameter
As shown in Table 1, results reveal that leaving drivers who were intruded upon would take longer to leave their parking space. Results also reveal that drivers who had children would be slower to leave a parking space, indicating they are more territorial.
Table 1. Observational study results on the territoriality of drivers in parking spots
Intrusion
Children Present
Mean
Std. Deviation
Yes
Yes Time to leave in seconds
68.1538
46.61517 No Time to leave in seconds
48.1667
34.05032
No
Yes Time to leave in seconds
68.1818
78.87113 No Time to leave in seconds
39.5000
36.78800
Experiment 2 (Survey study)
Methods
Participants. Survey data collected from a total of 40 a survey of non-random, yet anonymous drivers. a survey of non-random, yet anonymous drivers.nonrandom, anonymous participants and survey was verbally administered between the times of March 6 2013 and March 12 2013.
Materials.
A total of 40 surveys were handed out, which had a total of 5 questions and each question had two parts.
Design.
The design of the survey was to measure how participants felt and behaved when they are leaving a parking space when intruded upon or not by a waiting driver. Independent variables included children present and intrusion and dependent variable was the territoriality of the driver.
Procedure.
A total of 40 surveys were verbally administered to participants. All questions were relating to how territorial the departing driver would feel during specific situations and all questions were put into the form of a Likert scale from 1-7 to rate negativity. One question asked participants on average how long it would take to leave a parking space if intruded upon or not 2 questions were composed based off of our second independent variable, which was the amount of children present in departing car and added to the survey. The first question asked: “On a scale from 1 to 7, with 1 being ‘not cautious’ and 7 being ‘extremely cautious,’ how would you feel leaving a parking space if you had children in your vehicle?”. The second question asked: “on a scale from 1 to 7, with 1 being ‘extremely impatient’ and 7 being ‘extremely patient,’ how would you feel waiting for a parking space when there are children present in the departing vehicle?”. Surveys were then collected by experimenters once completed by participant and data was input SPSS, which results were then interpreted and analyzed.
Results.
According to calculations made in Table 2, results from the questionnaire reveal that participants said they would feel more negative when there is a waiting driver (M=3.7) than when there is no waiting driver (M=6.2).
When looking at the average time it would take for an individual to leave a parking space, results from Table 2 reveal that participants who were not intruded upon would take longer to leave their parking space (M=63.7s) than when they are intruded upon. Also results indicate that participants who had children in their vehicle would be more territorial in leaving a parking space (M=6.0) as they would be slower to leave and a strong sense of territoriality explained in the results shows that leaving drivers who had children in the car would be more cautious if there was a car
waiting.
Table 2.Questionnaire results on the territoriality of drivers in parking spots
Intrusion
No
Yes
M
SD
N
M
SD
N
Negativity about departure
6.2
0.8
40
3.7
1.4
40
Estimated departure time
63.7
70.1
40
39.8
70.1
40
In leaving car
In waiting Car
Children Present
6.0
1.0
40
4.9
1.7
40
General Discussion
The first hypothesis made in this study was not consistent with the results, as results show that leaving drivers would pull out faster if there is a waiting car and this had been revealed in both Experiment 1 and Experiment 2. When this study is compared to research done by Ruback and Juieng (1997), they both have consistent results in that a driver would say they would leave their parking space faster if they were intruded upon. According to Ruback and Juieng (1997), if a leaving driver heard the waiting driver honk, they would take longer to pull out of there parking space as this would the leaving driver is fairly territorial. In the present study, both experiments revealed that drivers would leave faster if there were a waiting car, but honking was never taken into consideration, which may be a result in an increase in territoriality. This issue of drivers pulling out of a parking space goes against the original hypothesis made that drivers would take longer to leave if intruded upon. When comparing results between children and intrusion, intrusion had no direct effect on children present in the car as departure times of a leaving driver is fairly similar to departures times when there is no intrusion. Although subjects with children would be more cautious, and therefore, express stronger territoriality as opposed to the subjects with no children in their vehicles. participants with children revealed that they would be more cautious, and therefore, express stronger territoriality as opposed to the subjects with no children in their vehicles. This result is consistent with the hypothesis made for the second independent variable in which that if the driver has children, they will be more territorial and slower to leave a parking space.One issue when dealing with the results of the survey is that the second part of the question involving the second independent variable of children does not directly let you determine territoriality of the departing vehicle, which was a limitation of the experiment. No territoriality was determined because results indicate that there was no territoriality in departing cars with children present when participants were waiting drivers as waiting drivers would be fairly patient. For future research, if it was found that waiting drivers would feel extremely impatient when they see someone with children, this could mean that it would make the impatient waiting driver either honk their horn more often or maybe pull up closer to the departing car, which both of these things might increase territoriality in the departing driver.
References
Childress, H. (2004). Teenagers, territory and the appropriation of space. Childhood: A Global Journal of Child Research, 11(2), 195-205. doi: 10.1177/0907568204043056
Costa, M. (2012). Territorial behavior in public settings. Environment and Behavior, 44(5), 713-721. doi: 10.1177/0013916511403803
Fraine, G., Smith, S. G., Zinkiewicz, L., Chapman, R., & Sheehan, M. (2007). At home on the road? Can drivers’ relationships with their cars be associated with territoriality?. Journal of environmental psychology, 27(3), 204-214.
Ruback, R. B., & Juieng, D. (1997). Territorial defense in parking lots: Retaliation against waiting drivers. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 27(9), 821-834. doi: 10.1111/j.1559 1816.1997.tb00661.x
First hypothesis: subjects will take longer to leave a parking space when they see a vehicle waiting for their parking space.
Second hypothesis: subjects with children present in their vehicle will be more territorial and thus, slower to leave their parking space.
We completed this study in two parts – observational research in various parking lots around Victoria, B.C. and a survey of non-random, yet anonymous drivers. can be operationally defined as, “the waiting driver waiting with their signal on and the leaving driver is either inside or outside their vehicle.” The second independent variable we worked with was children and can be operationally defined as, “people between the ages of 0-12 traveling with the subject.” We hoped to find that subjects with children would be more cautious, and therefore, express stronger territoriality as opposed to the subjects with no children in their vehicles.
First hypothesis: subjects will take longer to leave a parking space when they see a vehicle waiting for their parking space.
Second hypothesis: subjects with children present in their vehicle will be more territorial and thus, slower to leave their parking space.
We completed this study in two parts – observational research in various parking lots around Victoria, B.C. and a survey of non-random, yet anonymous drivers.ble, can be operationally defined as, “the waiting driver waiting with their signal on and the leaving driver is either inside or outside their vehicle.” The second independent variable we worked with was children and can be operationally defined as, “people between the ages of 0-12 traveling with the subject.” We hoped to find that subjects with children would be more cautious, and therefore, express stronger territoriality as opposed to the subjects with no children in their vehicles.
First hypothesis: subjects will take longer to leave a parking space when they see a vehicle waiting for their parking space.
Second hypothesis: subjects with children present in their vehicle will be more territorial and thus, slower to leave their parking space.can be operationally defined as, “the waiting driver waiting with their signal on and the leaving driver is either inside or outside their vehicle.” The second independent variable we worked with was children and can be operationally defined as, “people between the ages of 0-12 traveling with the subject.” We hoped to find that subjects with children would be more cautious, and therefore, express stronger territoriality as opposed to the subjects with no children in their vehicles.can be operationally defined as, “the waiting driver waiting with their signal on and the leaving driver is either inside or outside their vehicle.” The second independent variable we worked with was children and can be operationally defined as, “people between the ages of 0-12 traveling with the subject.” We hoped to find that subjects with children would be more cautious, and therefore, express stronger territoriality as opposed to the subjects with no children in their vehicles.can be operationally defined as, “the waiting driver waiting with their signal on and the leaving driver is either inside or outside their vehicle.” The second independent variable we worked with was children and can be operationally defined as, “people between the ages of 0-12 traveling with the subject.” We hoped to find that subjects with children would be more cautious, and therefore, express stronger territoriality as opposed to the subjects with no children in their vehicles.
First hypothesis: subjects will take longer to leave a parking space when they see a vehicle waiting for their parking space.
Second hypothesis: subjects with children present in their vehicle will be more territorial and thus, slower to leave their parking space.
We completed this study in two parts – observational research in various parking lots around Victoria, B.C. and a survey of non-random, yet anonymous drivers.
Two experiments show the territoriality of leaving drivers when children and intrusion are a factor. In Experiment 1, 48 observations were made in a parking lot to measure how long a leaving driver would take to pull out of their parking when there was a waiting driver and no waiting driver. Leaving drivers seemed to leave faster when they were intruded upon. Experiment 1 also measured how long it would take for a departing car with children present to pull out a parking space when there is intrusion and no intrusion. Drivers who had children present would be slower to leave a parking space, indicating they are more territorial. In Experiment 2, a questionnaire was verbally administered to 40 nonrandom, anonymous participants and 3 questions tested negativity of participants, 1 question asked estimated departure times of departing drivers and 1 closed ended question included the independent variable. Participants said they would feel more negative and leave a parking space faster when there is a car waiting. Participants with children revealed that they would be more cautious, and therefore, express stronger …show more content…
territoriality as opposed to the subjects with no children in their vehicles.
Intrusion and Parents with Children on Territoriality in Parking Lots
Understanding relationships between others and spaces is important in understanding intrusion and territoriality. In order to understand territoriality and intrusion, we must answer an important question; do people tend to claim ownership of a public space more when other individuals want it? The study of human territoriality, although generally only applied to places, also provides insight into responses to objects. According to Costa (2012), since one is quite clear about the boundaries of personal space in one’s own mind, one protects these boundaries and enforces these carefully by exercising a stringent control over the area. Personal space is influenced and determined by many factors including gender and age. According to Childress (2004), teens tend to have an increase in aggression when there is a restriction on their territory. A study showed that if people are waiting for that specific public space, they would leave as soon as possible, but if there is frustration while waiting for that space, then people would take longer to leave that area in order to aggravate that individual (Ruback and Juieng, 1997). The aim of the current research was to investigate whether if people would leave a parking space when they knew someone was waiting for that space versus not waiting and this had been based on the findings in a study completed by Ruback and Juieng (1997), which had been done to measure the effects of intrusion on territoriality in parking lots. The current research done also examined the effects of intrusion when children were and were not present in the departing car. In order to understand how territoriality and intrusion were measured, they must be operationally defined. Territoriality, the dependent variable, can be operationally defined as, “the time it takes for the driver’s door to close with the driver inside and the second set of wheels pulling out of the parking space”. Intrusion, the first independent variable, can be operationally defined as, “the waiting driver waiting with their signal on and the leaving driver is either inside or outside their vehicle”. The amount of children, the second independent variable, can be operationally defined as, “the amount of children between the ages of 0-12 traveling with the subject”. Two hypotheses had been addressed in our study; the first hypothesis made had been that the leaving driver would take longer to leave a parking space when intruded upon by the waiting driver, which could be explained by the fact that the leaving driver could be nervous or more cautious and then resulting in a longer time to leave. The second hypothesis made conducted was concluded to be that if the driver has children, they will be more territorial and slower to leave a parking space. One issue in the survey is that for one of the questions, no territoriality was determined because results indicate that there was no territoriality in departing cars with children present when participants were waiting drivers as waiting drivers would be fairly patient. The results for the second hypothesis made could be explained that leaving drivers are more cautious when they have children, therefore will be slower to leave whether intruded upon or not and if waiting drivers are extremely impatient when they see someone with children, they may pull up closer to the departing car, which may increase territoriality in the departing car.ble, can be operationally defined as, “the waiting driver waiting with their signal on and the leaving driver is either inside or outside their vehicle.” The second independent variable we worked with was children and can be operationally defined as, “people between the ages of 0-12 traveling with the subject.”
Experiment 1 (Observational study)
Methods
Participants.
Pilot data collected from a total of 48 participants who are drivers in parking lots and were observed between the times of March 6 2013 and March 12 2013. Children who were present in the leaving car had been between the estimated ages of 0-12.
Materials.
Departure times were recorded with a stopwatch in seconds.
Design.
The design of the observational study had focused on two independent variables, intrusion, the leaving driver, either inside or outside of his/her car, notices the waiting car’s signal and the second independent variable, children, the amount of children present in leaving car between the estimated ages of 0-12. The study had been a 2x2 factorial design, which intrusion and children present each varied between subjects. The dependent variable measured was territoriality of the leaving driver.
Procedure.
In the observational study, a total of 48 observation were made, 13 observations of intrusion with children present (leaving car), 11 observations of no intrusion with children present (leaving car), 12 observations of intrusion without children present (leaving car), and 12 observations of no intrusion without children. Timer started when leaving driver closed car door with him/ her inside and stopped when the second set of wheels of his/her car pulled out of the parking space. Data was input into a computing system called SPSS, which results were then interpreted and analyzed.
Results.
As Figure 1 indicates, intrusion has no effect when children present or not, but it does have an effect on dependent variable territoriality (departure times). Referring to Figure 1, departure times of leaving drivers seem to increase when there are children present in the car, but there is only a slight change in departure times when combining the factors of intrusion and children.
Figure 1.Territoriality as a function of intrusion, with children as a parameter
As shown in Table 1, results reveal that leaving drivers who were intruded upon would take longer to leave their parking space. Results also reveal that drivers who had children would be slower to leave a parking space, indicating they are more territorial.
Table 1. Observational study results on the territoriality of drivers in parking spots
Intrusion
Children Present
Mean
Std. Deviation
Yes
Yes Time to leave in seconds
68.1538
46.61517 No Time to leave in seconds
48.1667
34.05032
No
Yes Time to leave in seconds
68.1818
78.87113 No Time to leave in seconds
39.5000
36.78800
Experiment 2 (Survey study)
Methods
Participants. Survey data collected from a total of 40 a survey of non-random, yet anonymous drivers. a survey of non-random, yet anonymous drivers.nonrandom, anonymous participants and survey was verbally administered between the times of March 6 2013 and March 12 2013.
Materials.
A total of 40 surveys were handed out, which had a total of 5 questions and each question had two parts.
Design.
The design of the survey was to measure how participants felt and behaved when they are leaving a parking space when intruded upon or not by a waiting driver. Independent variables included children present and intrusion and dependent variable was the territoriality of the driver.
Procedure.
A total of 40 surveys were verbally administered to participants. All questions were relating to how territorial the departing driver would feel during specific situations and all questions were put into the form of a Likert scale from 1-7 to rate negativity. One question asked participants on average how long it would take to leave a parking space if intruded upon or not 2 questions were composed based off of our second independent variable, which was the amount of children present in departing car and added to the survey. The first question asked: “On a scale from 1 to 7, with 1 being ‘not cautious’ and 7 being ‘extremely cautious,’ how would you feel leaving a parking space if you had children in your vehicle?”. The second question asked: “on a scale from 1 to 7, with 1 being ‘extremely impatient’ and 7 being ‘extremely patient,’ how would you feel waiting for a parking space when there are children present in the departing vehicle?”. Surveys were then collected by experimenters once completed by participant and data was input SPSS, which results were then interpreted and analyzed.
Results.
According to calculations made in Table 2, results from the questionnaire reveal that participants said they would feel more negative when there is a waiting driver (M=3.7) than when there is no waiting driver (M=6.2).
When looking at the average time it would take for an individual to leave a parking space, results from Table 2 reveal that participants who were not intruded upon would take longer to leave their parking space (M=63.7s) than when they are intruded upon. Also results indicate that participants who had children in their vehicle would be more territorial in leaving a parking space (M=6.0) as they would be slower to leave and a strong sense of territoriality explained in the results shows that leaving drivers who had children in the car would be more cautious if there was a car
waiting.
Table 2.Questionnaire results on the territoriality of drivers in parking spots
Intrusion
No
Yes
M
SD
N
M
SD
N
Negativity about departure
6.2
0.8
40
3.7
1.4
40
Estimated departure time
63.7
70.1
40
39.8
70.1
40
In leaving car
In waiting Car
Children Present
6.0
1.0
40
4.9
1.7
40
General Discussion
The first hypothesis made in this study was not consistent with the results, as results show that leaving drivers would pull out faster if there is a waiting car and this had been revealed in both Experiment 1 and Experiment 2. When this study is compared to research done by Ruback and Juieng (1997), they both have consistent results in that a driver would say they would leave their parking space faster if they were intruded upon. According to Ruback and Juieng (1997), if a leaving driver heard the waiting driver honk, they would take longer to pull out of there parking space as this would the leaving driver is fairly territorial. In the present study, both experiments revealed that drivers would leave faster if there were a waiting car, but honking was never taken into consideration, which may be a result in an increase in territoriality. This issue of drivers pulling out of a parking space goes against the original hypothesis made that drivers would take longer to leave if intruded upon. When comparing results between children and intrusion, intrusion had no direct effect on children present in the car as departure times of a leaving driver is fairly similar to departures times when there is no intrusion. Although subjects with children would be more cautious, and therefore, express stronger territoriality as opposed to the subjects with no children in their vehicles. participants with children revealed that they would be more cautious, and therefore, express stronger territoriality as opposed to the subjects with no children in their vehicles. This result is consistent with the hypothesis made for the second independent variable in which that if the driver has children, they will be more territorial and slower to leave a parking space.One issue when dealing with the results of the survey is that the second part of the question involving the second independent variable of children does not directly let you determine territoriality of the departing vehicle, which was a limitation of the experiment. No territoriality was determined because results indicate that there was no territoriality in departing cars with children present when participants were waiting drivers as waiting drivers would be fairly patient. For future research, if it was found that waiting drivers would feel extremely impatient when they see someone with children, this could mean that it would make the impatient waiting driver either honk their horn more often or maybe pull up closer to the departing car, which both of these things might increase territoriality in the departing driver.
References
Childress, H. (2004). Teenagers, territory and the appropriation of space. Childhood: A Global Journal of Child Research, 11(2), 195-205. doi: 10.1177/0907568204043056
Costa, M. (2012). Territorial behavior in public settings. Environment and Behavior, 44(5), 713-721. doi: 10.1177/0013916511403803
Fraine, G., Smith, S. G., Zinkiewicz, L., Chapman, R., & Sheehan, M. (2007). At home on the road? Can drivers’ relationships with their cars be associated with territoriality?. Journal of environmental psychology, 27(3), 204-214.
Ruback, R. B., & Juieng, D. (1997). Territorial defense in parking lots: Retaliation against waiting drivers. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 27(9), 821-834. doi: 10.1111/j.1559 1816.1997.tb00661.x
First hypothesis: subjects will take longer to leave a parking space when they see a vehicle waiting for their parking space.
Second hypothesis: subjects with children present in their vehicle will be more territorial and thus, slower to leave their parking space.
We completed this study in two parts – observational research in various parking lots around Victoria, B.C. and a survey of non-random, yet anonymous drivers. can be operationally defined as, “the waiting driver waiting with their signal on and the leaving driver is either inside or outside their vehicle.” The second independent variable we worked with was children and can be operationally defined as, “people between the ages of 0-12 traveling with the subject.” We hoped to find that subjects with children would be more cautious, and therefore, express stronger territoriality as opposed to the subjects with no children in their vehicles.
First hypothesis: subjects will take longer to leave a parking space when they see a vehicle waiting for their parking space.
Second hypothesis: subjects with children present in their vehicle will be more territorial and thus, slower to leave their parking space.
We completed this study in two parts – observational research in various parking lots around Victoria, B.C. and a survey of non-random, yet anonymous drivers.ble, can be operationally defined as, “the waiting driver waiting with their signal on and the leaving driver is either inside or outside their vehicle.” The second independent variable we worked with was children and can be operationally defined as, “people between the ages of 0-12 traveling with the subject.” We hoped to find that subjects with children would be more cautious, and therefore, express stronger territoriality as opposed to the subjects with no children in their vehicles.
First hypothesis: subjects will take longer to leave a parking space when they see a vehicle waiting for their parking space.
Second hypothesis: subjects with children present in their vehicle will be more territorial and thus, slower to leave their parking space.can be operationally defined as, “the waiting driver waiting with their signal on and the leaving driver is either inside or outside their vehicle.” The second independent variable we worked with was children and can be operationally defined as, “people between the ages of 0-12 traveling with the subject.” We hoped to find that subjects with children would be more cautious, and therefore, express stronger territoriality as opposed to the subjects with no children in their vehicles.can be operationally defined as, “the waiting driver waiting with their signal on and the leaving driver is either inside or outside their vehicle.” The second independent variable we worked with was children and can be operationally defined as, “people between the ages of 0-12 traveling with the subject.” We hoped to find that subjects with children would be more cautious, and therefore, express stronger territoriality as opposed to the subjects with no children in their vehicles.can be operationally defined as, “the waiting driver waiting with their signal on and the leaving driver is either inside or outside their vehicle.” The second independent variable we worked with was children and can be operationally defined as, “people between the ages of 0-12 traveling with the subject.” We hoped to find that subjects with children would be more cautious, and therefore, express stronger territoriality as opposed to the subjects with no children in their vehicles.
First hypothesis: subjects will take longer to leave a parking space when they see a vehicle waiting for their parking space.
Second hypothesis: subjects with children present in their vehicle will be more territorial and thus, slower to leave their parking space.
We completed this study in two parts – observational research in various parking lots around Victoria, B.C. and a survey of non-random, yet anonymous drivers.