Men and Women Drawn to Angry-looking Cars

Ever seen a face in the clouds? Then you’re probably already well aware of our tendency to anthropomorphize. Scientists at the University of Vienna – from EFS Consulting and Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Urban Ethology – studied this trait in relation to how we humanize our cars. One third of the subjects thought the car’s front looked like a human or animal face. The headlights looked like eyes, and the grill, a mouth. Half of the subjects thought the car looked like it had a nose, whether it was the hood ornament, license plate or another feature. Perhaps surprisingly, both men and women preferred cars that looked arrogant, dominant, masculine and angry. What this means for sales and driving behaviour will be the subject of future research for these scientists.