A Finnish study earlier this year examined the correlation of expensive cars and their owners. It’s authors started on the premise that drivers of expensive makes are more prone than others to jump a red light and in general be more reckless drivers.
Previous research had apparently shown that money corrupts, in the sense that it leads the drivers of expensive cars to less ethical behaviour on the road. This led Jan-Erik Lönnqvist of the Uniersity of Helsinki to ask the question, whether a certain type of person, irrespective of its financial means, was more likely to be a drawn to luxury cars. So 1892 Finnish car owners were asked questions relating not only to their motors and consumer habits, but also to their character.
The study showed that ‘self-centred men who are argumentative, stubborn, disagreeable and unempathetic are much more likely to own a high-status car such as an Audi, BMW or Mercedes.’ But not only: the conscientious too seem to be drawn to high-status cars, and, by the way, This seems to apply to men and women alike. But it is not the case for egoistical personalities, where only men seem to show a keen interest in expensive vehicles. Lönnqvist does not have an explanation for this but suspects that a possible explanation might be that women simply look at the car less as a status symbol than men do.
The grumpy older man 