Aggressive thinking on the road. The mediation effect of aggressive thinking in the relationship between driving anger and aggression in Romanian drivers

Anger and aggression on the road have been pointed out as two of the main predictors of road accidents. However, while the emotional (anger) and behavioral (aggression) components of hostility have been deeply studied, the cognitive part has not received the same attention in this specific context. Thus, it is important to provide psychometric tools for assessing aggressive thoughts during driving, as the literature showed that cognitions play an important role in aggressive behavior. To this end, we asked Romanian drivers to answer three questionnaires: Driving Anger Thought Questionnaire (DATQ), the Driving Anger Scale (DAS) and the Driving Anger Expression Inventory (DAX), obtaining a total sample of 2133 answers. First, the psychometric properties of the DATQ were tested through a Confirmatory Factor Analysis, showing that the original 5-factor structure was maintained (Judgmental/Disbelieving Thinking, α = .93 both in men and women; Pejorative Labeling/Verbally Aggressive Thinking, α = .90 both in men and women; Physically Aggressive Thinking, α = .89 in men and α = .86 in women; Revenge/Retaliatory Thinking, α = .84 in men and α = .81 in women, and Adaptive/Constructive Expression, α = .84 in men and α = .82 in women). Then, we analyzed the mediation effect of angry thoughts between anger and aggression on the road, concluding that angry thoughts mediate this relationship. The main implications of the results are discussed.