The Moderating Effects of Emotions on the Relationship Between Self-Reported Individual Traits and Actual Risky Driving Behaviors

Differences in drivers' risk behaviour behind the wheel in relation to road risk perception: Insights from a study on a group of Polish car drivers

Numerous risky driving behaviours are considered the main causes of road accidents. Meanwhile, a number of studies conducted so far indicate that perceiving a higher risk in a certain behaviour is associated with a lower tendency to engage in that behaviour. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to examine whether there are differences in specific types of risky behaviours behind the wheel in relation to drivers' perceptions of road risk. The Road Traffic Behaviour Questionnaires KZD and KZD-P were used to evaluate, respectively, different risky behaviours and risk perceptions in road traffic. Two groups of Polish car drivers with similar average KZD scores but significantly different KZD-P scores, i.e., higher vs. lower, were compared. The profiles of the answers were statistically analysed. It was found that drivers with a lower risk perception were far more likely to engage in those behaviours that are the most commonly reported and directly endanger road safety, e.g., speeding and running a red light. Simultaneously, there were several unsafe driving behaviours, e.g., driving without a seatbelt or speaking on a mobile phone while driving, which were taken regardless of risk perception, i.e., even by the drivers who were aware of their riskiness. The results suggest that risk perception is a significant factor in preventing not all types but only selected hazardous behaviours in road traffic. The significance of the findings for traffic safety as well as ideas for further research in this area are discussed.

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.

How does a driver feel behind the wheel? An exploratory study of drivers' emotions and the effect of their sociodemographic background

Recent driving behaviour theories with motivational approaches have paid considerable attention to the cognitive characteristics of the driver, especially emotions. The role of drivers' emotions in driving behaviour has been the subject of extensive research, but an important question remains: how do drivers feel in actual driving situations? In this study, we developeda questionnaire comprised of 20 different emotions, conducted an online survey, and collected the responses from 232 participants. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) indicated a 4-factor structure. In addition, a path diagram and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were constructed, and the factors were semantically named "Unease," "Fear," "Pride," and "Joy," representing two positive and two negative emotions, respectively. Four multiple linear regression (MLR) analyses revealed a statistically significant but low-magnitudeeffect of sociodemographic variables on emotions. The correlations between the emotional factors indicate that two negative emotions and one positive emotion (pride) are highly positively correlated, whereas "joy" is the only emotion negatively associated with negative emotions and has a low correlation with pride. These results imply that sociodemographic variables may only serve as a foundation for forming a driver's contingent emotions, which are later specified by other factors, such as the driving context. Moreover, "joy" may be the only emotional factor that promotes regulation-congruent and favourable driving behaviour; the other three factors may result in various unfavourable driving styles. These findings may be used to determine the needs and specific characteristics of every driver based on their feelings and help design various mitigation measures addressing unfavourable behaviours tailored for different groups of drivers.

Driver's Visual Attention Characteristics and Their Emotional Influencing Mechanism under Different Cognitive Tasks

The visual attention system is the gateway to the human information processing system, and emotion is an important part of the human perceptual system. In this paper, the driver's visual attention characteristics and the influences of typical driving emotions on those were explored through analyzing driver's fixation time and identification accuracy to different visual cognitive tasks during driving. The results showed that: the increasing complexity of the cognitive object led to the improvement of visual identification speed. The memory and recall process increased drivers' fixation time to cognitive objects, and the recall accuracy decreased with the increase in time interval. The increase in the number of cognitive objects resulted in the driver improving the visual identification speed for the cognitive object at the end of the sequence consciously. The results also showed that: the visual cognitive efficiency was improved in the emotional states of anger and contempt, and was decreased in the emotional states of surprise, fear, anxiety, helplessness and pleasure, and the emotional state of relief had no significant effect on the visual cognitive efficiency. The findings reveal the driver's visual information processing mechanism to a certain extent, which are of great significance to understand the inner micro-psychology of driver's cognition.