Personality

Episode 14: What Does Your Car Say About You?

What does your choice of car say about you? Do we reveal anything about ourselves in the cars we drive? Let’s find out.



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Michael

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9 Comments

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    Michael

    May 8, 2007

    Thanks for your note Erna. Totally agree on the importance of factors such as financial issues, number of people in the household, etc.

    I don’t know of any personality tests that take into account how our cars might describe ourselves or our lives…neat idea though. I’ll let you know if I come across one!

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    Erna Khaira

    May 8, 2007

    Thank you for the video – it’s awesome. However, I think it may be more appropriate to say “What car you would like to have” rather “What car you have”. Also “Your car describe your life” (instead of “personality”) but yes it will be a topic of a different subject.

    Outside factors such as financial issue, the number of people in the household, the function of the car, the safety concern, the longevity of the car, and the size of the car itself (I am an Asian and so I always opt to buy Japanese car such as Toyota or Nissan and would never pick a Ford or Chevrolet because many cars made by Ford or Chevrolet are not “short people friendly”). I am a very clean person, almost like OCD, but I work full time, go to school full time, and I give rides to multiple people for different reasons on daily basis (for free/community work). And so my car always dirty and people who does not know me may think I am a lazy person or disorganized one.

    Is there any test for “Your car describe your life”?
    Thank you again.

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    Michael

    May 8, 2007

    I agree Veronica – our ability to choose the kind of car we might want to drive is affected by so many factors that for many people their car isn’t a reflection of their personalities. It may reflect their life circumstances, but the outside observer wouldn’t know this unless they knew a lot about the owner of the car. For example, I own a 10 year old Jetta. Does this mean I can’t afford a newer car? No, I’m sure I could, but I decide not to because I have other life priorities (like raising my 11 year olds!). So in some cases I think our cars might reflect out personalities but in many others they do not.

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    Veronica Lowe

    May 8, 2007

    I’m a little late on this comment session but I have a comment about how people are judged wrongly according to the car they may or may not drive because I am one of those people who cannot pick the car of my vehicle of choice right now because of finances but even if I had the money to choose an expensive car I wouldn’t do it because of the way people are biased and prejudice against people according to the things they have or drive.

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    MARTIN

    May 8, 2007

    interesting little video,
    It does appear that the more classical or very expensive modern cars have the personalities. most modern mid range cars are the same minimalist plastic boxes, in Europe only very recently its nice to see extra unnecessary chrome styling being added to the lastest cars, a trend i hope to continue, so that cars can become fashionable and eye catching again.
    we may need to wait some time before thay get multi colored pain jobs ,hood ornaments and tail fins again. but surely in the end when everyone drives something expressive of their personality that should make us happier.
    corse while people may pick cars, designing your own car, or culture around it could say an incredible amount about yourself. ive always dreameed of massive utopian retro sedans portraying a life of luxary and artisticness, and indeed if you wish to see what ive created heres a picture of what id like car culture to be like. http://dunemoonbeam3.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2w4fj4
    for fun if you wished to do a mini sycosis on what my pictures might say about me, id love to here it

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    Kasey

    May 8, 2007

    I find it hard to believe that a car says a lot about someone. I think that society tells us what the car is suppose to say about someone. For example, trucks are suppose to represent someone who is aggressive, jeeps show a fun loving person, and black mercedes tell a lot about someone’s status. I believe that people play into the roles of what the car represents. However, I do believe that colors and styles of a car show whether or not the person is exciting or boring. I also understand that some people cannot afford the car they want; therefore they get stuck with something that they hate. These people’s personalities are usually incorrectly judged by others.

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    Nakita

    May 8, 2007

    This video made very good points on how a car can indenitify with it’s owner. The color, the power, the age, the name, can all somehow be connected with the owner’s personality. However, he does mention that not everyone has the oppurtinity to choose the exact car that they want, so the theory can’t always be correct. But even with a car that doesn’t exactly suit you, additional accesories can still cut it. The entire project explained clearly how people can simply match their cars, or vice-versa, may it be a muscle car or a free will convertable.

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    Michael Britt

    May 8, 2007

    Thanks for your comment Ashley. I think your car can and probably does reflect something about you especially when you drive a car that is unusual in some way, like a big “muscle” car/truck or a sports car. I’d like to see some research on this topic though. I’ll bet someone has looked at this very carefully. I’ll keep my eye open for it.

    Michael

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    Ashley

    May 8, 2007

    I think that this podcast is definitely true, cars do say a lot about the person who owns it or drives it. In the podcast all the people he was interviewing looked exactly that type of person made for that type of car. The person in this podcast makes strong points when he says that the color, style, and make of a car also show what kind of person you are and possibly the lifestyle you live. He also points out however, that not everyone has the ability to choose what type of vehicle they drive so in that sense his statement would not always be accurate. The podcast did a great job on showing us what each car tells about a person and is something to remember the next time you look at someones car.

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