Driving stimuli increases accessibility of aggression-related concepts in “angry” drivers

Stimuli present in aversive situations (even initially neutral stimuli) can become associated with aggressive feelings and thoughts become capable of acting as cues for aggressive thoughts. The present research examined whether driving stimuli can serve as triggers for aggression-related concepts for individuals predisposed to becoming angry while driving (i.e., high in self-reported trait driving anger). Using the General Aggression Model (Anderson & Bushman, 2002) as a guide, two studies demonstrated that participants high in trait driving anger responded more quickly to aggressive words when paired with driving than neutral stimuli. There were no differences in primes for nonaggressive words and nonwords. Study 2 also found that, for participants high in driving anger, increased accessibility of aggressive words following driving primes predicted self-reported anger in a provoking driving scenario.     

An application of the prototype willingness model to drivers' speeding behaviour

We tested the prototype willingness model (PWM). The participants (N = 198) completed online questionnaire measures of PWM constructs (Time 1) and subsequent speeding behaviour (Time 2). Path analyses showed that the PWM accounted for 89% of the variance in subsequent (self‐reported) speeding behaviour. This significantly exceeded the variance accounted for by the theory of planned behaviour. In line with the PWM, both behavioural intention and behavioural willingness had direct effects on behaviour. Behavioural willingness had a significantly larger effect. Attitude and subjective norm both had indirect effects on behaviour through both behavioural intention and behavioural willingness. Prototype (similarity) perceptions had indirect effects on behaviour through behavioural willingness only. The findings support the notion that driving is governed by reactive decision‐making (willingness), underpinned by prototype perceptions, attitudes and subjective norms, to a greater extent than it is deliberative decision‐making (intentions), underpinned by attitudes and subjective norms. The implications for safety interventions are discussed.     

Effects of driving anger on driver behavior – Results from naturalistic driving data

There is a positive relationship between driving anger and near-crash or crash risk. However, it remains unclear if anger in fact contributes to traffic accidents and whether this happens due to cognitive overload or aggressive driving behaviors. This study investigated how anger affects driving behavior based on naturalistic driving data from the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2). Ten-minute trip segments were analyzed in which drivers exhibited anger with regard to driving errors, violations, and aggressive expressions. This data was compared to a matched baseline consisting of the same drivers not exhibiting anger. Results showed that anger resulted in more frequent aggressive driving behaviors but did not increase driving error frequency. Anger consequently creates danger due to deliberate behaviors rather than because of cognitive overload. In congruence with this finding, only anger triggered by threats, provocations, and frustrations increased the frequency of deliberate infringements. In contrast, anger due to having conflicts with someone on the phone or with a passenger was not linked to any type of aberrant driving behavior. Finally, severe displays of anger were accompanied by more violations as compared to slight or marked anger.     

Sensitivity to reward and risky driving,risky decision making,and risky health behaviour: A literature review

Young driver road safety has persisted as a global problem for decades, despite copious and diverse intervention. Recently the influence in reward sensitivity, which refers to the individual’s personal sensitivity to rewards, has received attention in health-related research, including more generally through decision making in risky circumstances, and in risky driving behaviour specifically. As such, a literature review and synthesis of the literature regarding reward sensitivity in relation to risky driving, risky decision making, and risky health behaviour, with a focus on literature in which adolescents and young adults feature, is timely. Thirty-one papers were identified, and the literature revealed that young drivers with greater reward sensitivity engage in more risky driving behaviours including speeding, crashes and traffic violations; and that individuals with greater reward sensitivity engage in more risky decision making and other risky health-related behaviours (such as drinking and drug use). Adolescents and young adults exhibit heightened sensitivity to rewards in the presence of peers, which has considerable implications for young driver road safety as research consistently demonstrates that carrying peer passengers places all vehicle occupants at greater risk of being involved in a road crash. Consideration of the influence of reward sensitivity in young driver road safety, and other adolescent/young adult health-related safety, appears to be a promising avenue of intervention, with gain-framed messages more likely to be accepted by young drivers with greater reward sensitivity. Future research in jurisdictions other than Australia and Europe will increase our understanding of the influence of reward sensitivity, and exploration of the differential impacts of reward-responsiveness and fun-seeking specifically are warranted.     

Increasing following headway with prompts, goal setting, and feedback in a driving simulator

We evaluated the effects of prompting, goal setting, and feedback on following headway of young drivers in a simulated driving environment and assessed whether changes produced in following headway were associated with reductions in hard braking when drivers were and were not using cell phones. Participants were 4 university students. During baseline, drivers spent half of the time talking on cell phones while driving. At the start of the intervention, drivers were prompted to increase following headway while on the cell phones and were provided a specific target for following headway. Drivers were given feedback on increasing following headway when on cell phones at the end of each session. The intervention package was associated with an increase in following headway and a decrease in hard braking when participants were on and off the cell phones. Cell phone use did not affect any of the measures.     

Identifying and Remedying Failures of Selective Attention in Younger Drivers

ABSTRACT— Newly licensed drivers are disproportionally involved in fatal crashes, and there is evidence that failure to attend to potentially relevant information is a major contributor to this problem. Corroborating this, in controlled scenarios on a driving simulator, we have found that younger drivers attend to (i.e., fixate) target regions in the virtual world that contain information about potential risks much less frequently than do more experienced drivers. We have developed a PC-based training program that substantially improves younger drivers' attention to these regions in the driving simulator and have recently replicated these training results on the road in a real driving situation.     

Intermittent explosive disorder and other psychiatric comorbidity among court-referred and self-referred aggressive drivers

We assessed possible Axis I and Axis II disorders in two groups of aggressive drivers (n=20, court-referred; n=10, self-referred) and 30 non-aggressive driver controls, using the SCID and SCID-II. Aggressive drivers were more likely than controls to be positive for any Axis I and Axis II disorders. They were also more likely to meet the criteria for Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED), current or past alcohol or substance abuse or dependence and Antisocial PD and Borderline PD. The self-referred aggressive drivers were more likely than court-referred aggressive drivers to meet the criteria for a current or past Anxiety Disorder. Re-analysis of aggressive driver data on the basis of presence or absence of IED revealed differences only in Axis II disorders: those with IED were more likely to meet the criteria for any Axis II disorder and Antisocial PD.