We form interesting relationships with our cars, often because these vehicles serve as unique transitional elements in our life. We gain some of our first independence obtaining our license as teenagers, often marking our first foray into adulthood. Additionally, our car is often our very first financial investment. This creates a unique bridge between childhood and adulthood - carrying forward some of our childlike creativity and beliefs at a time that we are fighting hard to create our identity. Anthropomorphizing our car in our own imaginations, allows us that playful connection with something that we inevitably spend hundreds of hours alone with (and thousands of dollars maintaining).
Licensed Psychotherapist at Christina Harrington-Stutzmann
Answered 7 months ago
Many people personalize their cars and can project an emotion from it's owner to them. This can make the car more relatable so that connection to it's owners can be a close one. These attributes assigned can help people makes sense of the world around them or how an object is being experienced by them. Humans are social beings and naming a car enhances one's own social needs. If someone is lacking a specific connection or is socially lonely this decision to name your car can be more. Humanlike traits being given to cars can be seen as an egocentric decision because we are assuming an object is feeling the ways you feel. It's a projection in one's own identity in assuming that an object is like you. That car's beliefs, behaviors are intertwined in your own perceptions of it. This defense mechanism can preserve their sense of self rather then dealing with negative, unpleasant difficulties. This reflection on an object can say a lot about one's self and how they are behaving. Sometimes car manufacturers will also build cars to a specific human characteristics or traits that can make the car more human like. Anthropomorphic is where we give an object human qualities or how they behave. People do this often, it's not just with cars. For an example, naming hurricanes or pet owners with their beloved animals. When one has an awareness that they maybe anthropomorphizing it's an opportunity for clarity in the value of the ability to see yourself. The conscious knowledge of yourself is a superpower.
I've had clients fly into Mexico City and introduce me to "Betty," or "El Jefe" before realizing they're talking about their car. What is surprising is not so much the name of the vehicle, but the level of emotional commitment they had to it. At Mexico-City-Private-Driver.com, I have transported thousands of travelers who day-in and day-out ply a complex emotional connection to their vehicles as a means of coping with anxiety of travelling, especially moving around in a foreign country. When they talk of the vehicle, they give it an identity, controllability, personality, and trust. For Americans, who heavily associate human traits with driving, independence and identity mostly, naming their car gives their experience and travels a companion on life's journey and a connection to and dramatically influences their travel experience. I have heard names such as "Shadow," to describe an all-back SUV, or "Tank," for a pick-up truck who has seen many storms ahead of the driver; each name relates to something else the owner wanted to see or an emotional need they had. One client of the thousands I have serviced even insisted his car didn't start because it was "jealous" of his rental! In my experience, the naming trend is most apparent with aprticularly solo travelers and expats, needing their vehicle not only for moving around, but for comfort and grounding emotional needs. The expressive act of naming their vehicle -whether a humorous, nostalgic, or empowering name - helped them turn the basic piece of machinery into a safe space. No wonder one in three Americans name their car; it is not just transport, it is identity on wheels.