Drivers who raise a hand to say thank you when another motorist lets them merge are practicing a habit of noticing everyday kindnesses, according to psychological research.
Traffic backs up, an indicator blinks, and a driver leaves an opening to let someone merge. Without thinking much about it, the merging driver lifts a hand in a quick wave.
Rather than waiting for major happy events, individuals who habitually return a wave on the road are often simply more inclined to express appreciation for the attention shown by strangers.
Participants either recorded things they were grateful for, noted everyday hassles, or simply listed general events.
After a period of 10 weeks, the people who listed their blessings felt better about their lives as a whole and more optimistic about the week ahead than those who focused on hassles. They also reported fewer physical complaints and spent more time exercising, leading researchers to conclude that tracking positive moments yields real effects.
Later research demonstrated that these journals work best when they focus on specific, particular moments, including unexpected ones, rather than vague lists. Experts emphasize that gratitude is not a cure for depression or hardship, but rather a small habit that trains attention toward what goes right.
Road courtesy also travels from person to person through indirect reciprocity.
Their experiment compared two distinct situations on the road. In one scenario, a driver encountered an experimenter seeking to pass without any prior interaction. In the second scenario, a separate experimenter first yielded to the driver, who then encountered the person seeking to pass.
Drivers in that second situation gave way to a third driver 32.1 percent of the time. Without the earlier courtesy, motorists did so only 14.6 percent of the time. This more than doubled likelihood suggests that road courtesy can be passed along, building on concepts like “car karma” identified in earlier interviews with young motorists aged 18 to 25 by Lucienne M. B. Kleisen in a paper published in Accident Analysis & Prevention in January 2013.