The relationship between attentional bias toward safety and driving behavior

A comparative analysis of distracted driving behavior among drivers of different income levels: A case study in huainan, China

This research aims to investigate the differences and causes behind distracted driving behavior among drivers with varying income levels. A comparative survey of 1121 drivers in Huainan City, China, was conducted, including 562 drivers from high-end communities representing the high-income group, and 559 drivers from general communities representing the low-income group. Employing social norms, risk perception, and experience as independent variables, the study further examines the role of in-group bias as a mediating variable, with distracted driving behavior serving as the dependent variable, through the construction of two structural equation models for analysis. The study found that among the high-income driver group, in-group bias significantly mediates the impact of social norms, risk perception, and experience on distracted driving behavior; however, this mediating effect is less pronounced in the low-income driver group. This finding is crucial for understanding the potential distracted driving behaviors induced by in-group bias within the high-income driver group and for effectively promoting driving safety. In summary, this research provides new insights into reducing distracted driving behavior among the high-income driver group, thereby enhancing road safety.

Rank Has Its Privileges: Explaining Why Laboratory Safety Is a Persistent Challenge

Environmental, health, and safety management systems have become common in research settings to improve laboratory safety through systematic observation and self-regulation. However, there is scant empirical evidence assessing whether these surveillance and inspection systems meet their intended objectives. Using data from safety inspections in research laboratories at a large university, we investigate whether conducting inspections, and recording and reporting findings back to the formally responsible actors (i.e., principal investigator scientists) lead to the improvement of regulatory compliance. Our analyses identify a population of well-funded, high-status, tenured researchers whose non-compliant practices persist. Our interviews with environmental, health, and safety personnel suggest that higher-status actors disengage from the regulatory system, the compliance officers, and the system's feedback process by their variable recognition and acknowledgment of relevant regulations, attention to the inspection reports, and responses to the feedback concerning repair of the unsafe situation. This study extends previous literature on regulatory compliance by providing evidence for the role of power and status in explaining actor-level non-compliant behavior.

Exploratory Study: A Modification Training Method of Attentional Bias Toward Safety

BACKGROUND

The high sensitivity of individuals toward safety information in production activities, that is, attentional bias toward safety (ABS), can positively predict safe behaviors. It has become a hot topic in current organizational safety behavior research. However, there is no literature on its modification method.

METHODS

Based on the modified dot-probe task, we designed a modification training method of ABS. The training method required subjects to respond to the location of detection points that presented after safety stimulus and neutral stimulus pictures. Subjects' attentional bias values of safety and neutral pictures were measured during the experiment. Twenty-one students were selected and divided into a control group and training group to gain comparable results.

RESULTS

A novel training method was developed in this study to promote the efficacy of safety stimulus by activating ABS of the subjects. Moreover, repeated trainings and preacquired relative knowledge can enhance this effect.

CONCLUSION

This study develops an experimental approach to evaluate the effectiveness of safety education and safety training, and also provides a new research idea for accident prevention.

Relating Reactive and Proactive Aggression to Trait Driving Anger in Young and Adult Males: A Pilot Study Using Explicit and Implicit Measures

Driving anger and aggressive driving are main contributors to crashes, especially among young males. Trait driving anger is context-specific and unique from other forms of anger. It is necessary to understand the mechanisms of trait driving anger to develop targeted interventions. Although literature conceptually distinguished reactive and proactive aggression, this distinction is uncommon in driving research. Similar, cognitive biases related to driving anger, measured by a combination of explicit and implicit measures, received little attention. This pilot study related explicit and implicit measures associated with reactive and proactive aggression to trait driving anger, while considering age. The sample consisted of 42 male drivers. The implicit measures included a self-aggression association (i.e., Single-Target Implicit Association Test) and an attentional aggression bias (i.e., Emotional Stroop Task). Reactive aggression related positively with trait driving anger. Moreover, a self-aggression association negatively related to trait driving anger. Finally, an interaction effect for age suggested that only in young male drivers, higher proactive aggression related to lower trait driving anger. These preliminary results motivate further attention to the combination of explicit and implicit measures related to reactive and proactive aggression in trait driving anger research.

Driving Behaviors in Iran: Comparison of Impulsivity, Attentional Bias, and Decision-Making Styles in Safe and High-Risk Drivers

Objective: Road traffic injuries are leading cause of death and economic losses, particularly in developing countries such as Iran. Thus, increased understanding of the causes of traffic accidents can help solve this problem.

The primary goal of this study was to examine attentional bias, decision-making styles, and impulsiveness in drivers with safe or risky driving behaviors. The secondary purpose was to determine the variance of each variable among 2 groups of drivers.

Method: This was a cross sectional design study, in which 120 male drivers aged 20-30 years (60 males with risky driving behaviors and 60 with safe driving behaviors) were recruited from Tehran using sampling technique. Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS), Decision-Making Style Scale (DMSQ), Manchester Driver Behavior Questionnaire (MDBQ), Self-Assessment Manikin Scale (SAM), and Dot Probe Task were used. The analyses were performed using IBM SPSS version 22.

Results: The mean age of participants was 26 years. Significant differences were found between impulsiveness (attentional, motor, and non planning impulsiveness) and decision-making styles (spontaneous and avoidant) between the 2 groups. Also, based on the results of discriminant function analysis (DFS), the subscales of impulsiveness and 2 decision-making styles explained 25% of the variance in the 2 groups of risky and safe drivers.

Conclusion: Findings of this study indicated that impulsiveness and 2 decision-making styles were predominant factors. Therefore, not only is there a need for research to reduce traffic accidents, but studies can also be helpful in issuing driving licenses to individuals.