Jul 5

Jul 5 On the Psychology of Crossing The Street

What makes human jaywalkers like gazelles on the African savanna? Because they engage in communication through behaviour to deter dangerous predators (i.e., vehicles) from hitting them and causing harm. This communication is known as signaling, and it can sometimes be dishonest.

This might be a very Canadian thing, but have you ever noticed when driving, if you slow to let a pedestrian jaywalk, they do this exaggerated, fake run across the street that is actually absolutely no faster than their normal walk?

I’ve always wondered why people bother doing this at all. It’s clearly using more energy than walking normally.

I’ve also noticed that people who do this fake run across the street are more inclined to do so if they made eye contact with me (the driver)… as if to say thank you in their own bouncy way.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that a pedestrian fake running across the street is much like the stotting of the gazelle on the African savanna (stotting is the jumping high into the air from all 4’s of the gazelle, making themselves more visible and expending energy even when a predator is around). Fake running can be explained by a concept from Evolutionary Biology called Signaling Theory.

Why is Jaywalking Like Animal Signaling Theory?

Signaling Theory suggests that behaviours can act as communication between individuals within (or across) species. Signals evolutionarily emerged because they modify the behaviour of the one observing the signal to benefit the signaler. For example, young chimpanzees do a fear grin to show submission to larger chimps, thereby deterring the larger from violence. The grin was the signal, and it changes the behaviour of the observer.

It explains how a pattern of behaviour or attributes can signal hidden characteristics. For example, the bright coloration on the poison dart frog lets a predator know not to try to eat them. The colour is the signal, and not eating the dart frog is the behaviour change.

Signals can be both honest (meaning, they accurately tell the observer something true about the underlying nature of the signaler), or dishonest (meaning, the signaler is pulling a fast one on the observer for their own benefit). An example of a dishonest signaling would be the coloration of the milk snake, a harmless little guy, which looks a lot like the coloration of the highly poisonous coral snake. He wants you to think he’s poisonous, and to leave him well alone, when he’s not poisonous at all.

Milk snake vs. Coral snake.

I literally can’t tell the difference whilst I write this. Well done, Milk snake.

Dishonest signals threaten the whole signaling system. Once a predator knows it’s a dishonest signal, well then you had better watch out, you old danger noodle, as the predator won’t be scared anymore that you’re poisonous and will probably try to eat you!

What Are Humans Trying to Signal When Fake-Running Across the Street?

Though humans are normally extremely efficient communicators thanks to language, the case of jaywalking (between a pedestrian and a driver) removes the possibility for dialogue. Thus we are left with just behaviour, which mimics more closely animal signaling like that one for which Signaling Theory was developed.

The jaywalker is looking to cross the street now rather than walk to a crosswalk (it takes more energy to walk to the crosswalk). But crossing the street amongst oncoming traffic is riskier, despite expending less energy, because injury is likely to ensue if you are hit by a car. The jaywalker needs something from the oncoming driver – to slow down enough to pass and not hit them. The driver doesn’t want to be inconvenienced, and (most of the time) doesn’t want to hit the pedestrian.

When there is a gap or the driver slows for the pedestrian to jaywalk, the jaywalker makes a show of fake running across the street as a signal to the driver.

What is the jaywalker signaling?

The message to the driver: I am trying to cross the street as quickly as I can so that you see that I’m being cooperative and you don’t decide to hit me while I’m in this vulnerable mid-cross position.

The driver can interpret it as a signal of gratitude, appeasement, and perhaps even culpability by making it seem like they are trying to cross the street as quickly as possible by breaking out into a jog.

But, surely this isn’t the fastest these pedestrians could run. But they are sure as heck making it look like they are trying to run their fastest. Perhaps this is a dishonest signal.

The jaywalker is incentivized to signal they are running at their fastest, so you, the driver, stay stopped or slowed to let them pass, while keeping their energy levels lower than a sprint. Trying their hardest but looking slow might also justify why they are jaywalking, rather than going to a law-abiding crosswalk nearby instead.

Although I love public shows of kindness through drive-pedestrian relations, there’s a reason you can get a ticket for jaywalking. The risks aren’t really worth it. Especially if you are trying to cross in front of multiple cars – then the communication between jaywalker and driver QWA? increases in complexity.

Instead, take inspiration from other members of the animal kingdom who live a very organized life and would surely cross at a designated crossing area if they knew what the heck that was…