Marking Your Parking

I remember seeing a story about this many years ago, I think on 20/20, and it has stuck in my head ever since. I can't empirically say it's true but it sure seems true when I'm waiting for a parking space.

Keep this in mind when you head to the mall to do your Christmas shopping.

From Scienceblog.com...

As you get into your car at the shopping mall, you notice a car waiting to take your parking space. You hurry to get your keys out and drive away. But that's not true in most cases, according to researchers.

"Most people think they leave faster, but in reality, they take more time to leave when another car waits near their space," said Penn State researcher Barry Ruback. "And if the other driver honks the horn, people will really slow down their departure just to occupy the parking space a little longer."

The response is called territorial behavior, which involves marking or defending a location in order to indicate a presumed right to a particular place. "Like our ancestors, we humans still defend territories, but we do so even when they are temporary public areas," Ruback said. This study shows that people demonstrate this response even when the parking space no longer has value for them, but merely to prevent another driver from possessing the space.

If I remember the original story correctly a driver on average takes 20% longer to exit their space when another car is waiting.

Crazy!