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| Tut-tutting Men Can Spike Women's Motor Insurance Premiums | |||
| A woman who is chided or criticised by her husband or male companion while she is driving is more than twice as likely to have an accident, according to research carried out at the University of Queensland. Australian media cited a study done by Dr Courtney von Hippel and her team from the university in which 168 female students were recruited to undergo computer simulated psychological driving tests. Half of them were told the test would determine why men were better drivers then women, while the others were told the simulation would explore the mental processes in driving. Nearly half of the first group hit a pedestrian who appeared unexpectedly, while about a quarter in the second did the same thing. Dr von Hippel said: "When people are confronted with negative stereotypes about themselves, they seem to experience an extra cognitive load, which can decrease their performance on a task. There can be subtle things happening in the environment while a woman is driving, like a male driver shaking his head when she tries to reverse park a car." A mere reproof could lead a woman to lose her concentration, which in turn could lead to a road accident and higher car insurance premiums. |
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| Ins Communications Pte Ltd · 69 Amoy Street, Singapore 069 888 Tel: (65) 6224 5583 · Fax: (65) 6224 1091 http://www.asiainsurancereview.com/pages/e-weekly.asp?country=4 Published: 7/29/2010 7:57:15 PM © 2010 All rights reserved |
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