How can this be conceptualized? Perhaps the passengers in the carpool have only to sit and worry about being late without being able to apply any of their mental focus on problem solving such as deciding which lane to be in. Like Seligman’s dogs (Seligman, 1975) who could not jump over the barrier to escape the electric shock, the passengers in a carpool may endure greater frustration simply because they perceive themselves as having far less control than if they were driving. Also, the responsibility and decisions of driving may give drivers the coping benefit of distraction.

This stress reaction or strain was operationalized as increases in systolic and diastolic blood pressure and decreases in behavioral performance. But while having greater control as a single car driver appeared to decrease the strain, the greater control of having more than one alternate route suggested higher stress reactions (Schaeffer, Street, Singer, & Baum, 1988). For example, a driver who was frustrated by being in a carpool may enjoy the greater control of driving himself to work, even though his driving does not shorten his time in the most congested areas of the highway. But if the traffic jam is extensive, the greater control of being able to choose alternative routes carries its own unique form of anxiety. The strain of decision may come from the fact that the driver perceives his decision as a high stakes choice: the alternative route may prove to be significantly better or significantly worse. If a single car driver and a van pool both try an alternative route that results in being much later to work, the van pool passengers do not have the added responsibility of having made the decision to take the slower route.

            High impedance commuting appears to be associated with changes in blood pressure, chemical secretions, and heart rate (Koslowsky et al., 1995). The results of studies measuring the effects of commuting on blood pressure are somewhat contradictory. Traveling greater distances and spending more time on the road (viewed as high impedance) is not necessarily associated with higher blood pressure (Koslowsky et al., 1995; Stokols, Novaco, Stokols, & Campell, 1978).

Chemical secretions and heart rate, on the other hand, are less ambiguous as physiological indicators of the strain of commuting. Following the “fight-or-flight” reaction to Selye’s stress model, Johansson and Lundberg (1977) noted that while increased adrenaline excretion is generally associated with good performance, the demands for readjustment posed by commuting results in high adrenaline levels likely to produce harmful long-term effects. Among bus drivers, for example, the driving time spent in congested traffic was correlated with both epinephrine and norepinephrine secretions (Evans & Carrere, 1991). Commuting by train may be associated with increased levels of catecholamine (Singer, Lundberg, & Frankenhauser, 1978). By analogy, this evidence appears to be relevant to those who commute by car (Koslowsky et al., 1995). Congested traffic situations for commuters has been clearly associated with elevations of heart rate due to the increase in air pollutants (Aronow, Harris, Isbell, Rokaw, & Imperato, 1972).

            In addition to the chemical secretions, elevated heart rate, and changes in blood pressure, self-reported symptoms of commuters include stiff neck, tiredness, lower-back pain, difficulty in focusing attention, tension, and anger (Greller & Parsons, 1989; Koslowsky et al., 1995). In citing these symptoms, Koslowsky interprets a prior, unpublished analysis by Greller and Parsons of their own published study in 1989. It is not difficult to see that symptoms such as these are relevant to commuter’s home life to the extent that they can carry over after the actual time spent on the road. Our purpose at this stage is not to identify all physiological effects of commuting. Rather, the evidence summarized above points to the physiological strain of commuting as a salient factor in the stress-strain relationship. It also suggests that the behavior of parents in the home after a long commute may be influenced by physiological changes associated with commuting stress.

<< Previous    1...   2  3  [4]  5  6  ...8    Next >>