Discriminating Drivers' Fear and Frustration through the Dimension of Power

Abstract

The goal of this study was to investigate changes in body temperature as indicators for the emotional dimension of power during driving. Therefore a driving simulator experiment with 18 participants was conducted, in which two emotions with different characteristics in the dimension of power (fear with low power, and frustration with high power) were induced using events in the driving scenarios. Changes in finger temperature, which was supposed to represent emotional dimension of power, increased significantly (t (17) = 1.8, p < .05*, Cohen’s d = 0.6) more after frustration events than after fear. In contrast, there was no difference in skin conductance level, which indicates emotional arousal, between fear and frustration. Additionally, a preliminary analysis of face temperature points in the direction of the finger temperature. Together, the results of this study suggest that body temperature as an indicator for the emotional dimension of power can help to discriminate between fear and frustration and thus aid reliable in-vehicle emotion recognition.