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How your car could be giving away clues about your personality

Your car really does give clues about your personality, according to research by scientists.

The Chrysler Crossfire, was rated amongst the angriest cars

Researchers have found that people instinctively attach human personality traits to cars, saying that cars with wide radiator grilles and narrow headlights are dominant and aggressive, while those with large windscreens have childish and happy "faces".

The findings may provide some insight into why drivers react in different ways to the cars around them and why some vehicles invoke strong reactions.

Specific cars were also singled out having particular traits that relate to personality. The Chrysler Crossfire, BMW 645ci and VW Sharan were rated amongst the angriest cars, while the

Diahatsu Cuore, a small Japanese-built hatchback, was found to be the saddest.

Cars made by German luxury manufacturer Maybach were seen as being the most dominant alongside the BMW 3, BMW 5 and BMW 645ci.

The new Nissan Micra was seen as the most submissive while the Toyota Aygo was the most childish car.

The new style Volkswagen Beetle was the happiest car while the Mercedes E class was viewed as being neurotic by the adults in Ethiopia.

The Vauxhall Astra, however, was seen as being a decidedly average car.

The latest research, which asked adults in Europe and Africa if they attached any emotions, personalities and ages to different cars, found that people assess the shape of cars in the same way they assess other people's faces.

Cars with slit like headlights, large grilles and wide air intakes were seen as being more mature, masculine and dominant while those with rounder headlines and larger windscreens were seen as being more childish, feminine and submissive.

Sonja Windhager, an anthropologist at the University of Vienna who led the research, said that the personalities attributed to the cars could were probably also attributed to the drivers of those vehicles.

She said: "Our findings unearthed the striking similarities between car and face perception. The similarities of car and face perception might influence driving, pedestrian behaviour and the design of car fronts themselves.

"I think it might influence our decisions on which cars we buy when other factors such as price, space and engine power are close to being equal. We may even pay more for a car with a face we like better, but that remains to be investigated."

The researchers asked 129 adults from Austria and Ethiopia to rate images of 26 real cars in a bid to investigate the phenomena of pareidolia – the human tendency to find faces and other human traits in inanimate objects.

As the Ethiopians had not been exposed to much advertising for cars, which can influence how people perceive a brand, the researchers expected to see differences in the attributes they attached to the vehicles.

There were some differences between the two countries took, with people in Ethiopia generally rating cars as friendlier than people in Austria.

Miss Windhager now wants to find out how the "faces" of different cars affects drivers' behaviour - she said such research could have implications for the design of future cars and even the insurance industry.

She said: "We would like to see whether the driving behaviour of other drivers is affected by the shape of a car. Do we change the lane sooner when we see an aggressive looking car in the rear-view mirror?

"Human and animal faces convey much essential information in contexts ranging from predation to social interaction. Face detection and the accurate interpretation at an early stage of an encounter must have been crucial for the survival of our ancestors.

"As a result, we are tempted to see faces almost everywhere, even in clouds, stones and, of course, cars."

Cars and their personalities

Dominant:

Maybach

BMW 645ci

Masculine:

Chrysler 300C

BMW 645ci

Feminine:

Nissan Micra

Childish:

Toyota Aygo