Traffic Psychology

David L. Wiesenthal

Behaviours that could be studied on roadways:

• Prosocial behaviours (helping, courtesy, cooperation, etc.)

• Anti-social behaviours (aggression, violence, vengeance, etc.)

• Social influence processes (conformity, modelling, norm formation, etc.)

• Deindividuation• Cognitive processes (attention,

distraction, workload)• Perceptual processes• Wayfinding & route learning• Stress and coping

Why not more research on driving behaviour?

• Funding difficulties: too applied for psychological funding agencies and too academic for road safety professionals

• Lack of funding for out-of-province researchers by transportation ministries

• Road safety professionals are mostly engineers and tend to view problems as attributable to technical reasons and see engineering solutions to problems

• The problem driver has traditionally been viewed as the alcohol consuming driver, so attempts to control this problem has dominated the international agenda

• Difficulties in securing cooperation to study behaviour on roadways

• Laboratory research is easier and more convenient to perform

What is traffic psychology?• Definition: the study of the behaviour of road users and

the psychological processes underlying that behaviour (Rothengatter, 1997).

• There is no single theoretical framework for the field, but rather several competing models, many of which are drawn from social psychology (e.g., Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour, driver stress, the General Aggression Model, risk compensation, personality theory etc.

• Glendon (2011) identified 174 theories, conceptual frameworks, or models with a psychological component in his review.

Source: Rothengatter, T. (1997). Psychological aspects of road user behavior. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 46, 223-234.

Where in the world is traffic psychology studied?

• The USA, UK & Australia contributed 53.7% of the publications reviewed

• The U.S.A. accounted for just over 1/3 of the total

• Adjusting for relative population, New Zealand, Sweden, Finland, Israel, Australia, and Norway score highly on this index

• Using wealth (per capita income), the top performing countries are: USA, UK, Australia, Sweden, New Zealand, Canada, & Israel

Source: Glendon, A. I. (2011). Traffic psychology. In P. R. Martin et al. (Eds.), IAAP Handbook of Applied Psychology, pp.545-558. Oxford, U.K.: Blackwell (Wiley)

Journals

• Accident Analysis and Prevention• Transportation Research, Part F• Journal of Safety Research• Human Factors• Ergonomics• Safety Science• Applied Ergonomics• Personality and Individual Differences• Work and Stress• Basic and Applied Social Psychology• Aggressive Behavior• Violence and Victims

Our Research Topics

• Driver stress• Reduction of driver stress• Driver anger/aggression• Driver distraction• Attributional processes• Perceptions of objectionable roadway

behaviours• Risk-taking and evolutionary psychology• Narcissism• “Unjust World” perceptions• Music and risk-taking

Methodologies I’ve Used

• Laboratory experiment• Simulation of driving & cell phone use• Field experiment • Content analysis• Observational techniques• National survey• Questionnaire development• Cross-national research

Dependent Measures

• Speed estimation task• Implicit Attitudes Test• Vienna Risk-Taking Test Traffic (WBTV)• DriveSim• Animation• Questionnaires (modified as well as developed

measures• Cell phone administration of questionnaires

Aggressive Driving: TIRF 2006 Road Safety Monitor Survey

• Opinion Search conducted a 75 item telephone survey in September 2006

• 6,075 household contacted, but 73% refused to participate

• 7.5% were not eligible for the survey (the respondent had to have driven in the past 30 days

• 1,201drivers completed the survey• Sample accuracy = 2.9% 19 times out of 20

Aggressive Driving and Public Concern

• Traffic Injury Research Foundation Survey (Ottawa): 1200 telephone interviews across Canada

– 65% indicated aggressive driving constituted a serious problem and felt it was a greater danger than sleepy drivers, road conditions, or vehicle defects

– 74% viewed red light running a serious problem– 2/3 considered speeding a serious risk– Women felt more threatened than men– Ontario drivers reported more encounters with aggressive

drivers than those in other provinces

Aggressive Driving: TIRF 2006 Road Safety Monitor Survey

• 88% of Canadians believe aggressive driving has increased over the last 5 years

• 2.7 million admit to exceeding the speed limit• 2 million admit to speeding to get through a

traffic light• 670,000 admit they take driving risks for “fun”

Aggressive Driving: TIRF 2006 Road Safety Monitor Survey

Characteristics of Aggressive Drivers:• Twice as many male aggressive drivers than

females• Drivers 16-24 are more likely to use their horn• Drivers 16-44 were more likely to behave

aggressively in traffic• Aggressive drivers reported at least one traffic

ticket

Aggressive Driving: TIRF 2006 Road Safety Monitor Survey

Support for Measures to Control Aggressive Drivers:

• 63% agree that aggressive driving should receive greater attention from police

• 51% believe penalties for aggressive driving should equal those for intoxicated driving

• 43% agree that vehicles should have speed limiting devices

Aggressive Driving and Public Concern

• Toljagic (2000) indicated that 38% of Ontario drivers reported some abusive behaviour over the past year

• Goehring (2000) reported 90% of AAA members witnessed an aggressive driving incident over a year

• Wald (1997) estimated 28,000 highway fatalities in the USA were attributable to aggressive driving

• Rasmussen, Knapp & Garner (2000): 22% of drivers in Las Vegas reported other drivers to the police. Major sources of annoyance: slow drivers, children not in child seats, tailgating, tourists uncertain of route, cars weaving in and out of lanes. They perceived an increase (76%) in aggressive driving over a 5 year period and felt Las Vegas drivers were worse than elsewhere (58%).

Main Findings

• Trait X State stress interaction: congestion does not affect everyone the same since high trait stress drivers reacted more strongly to high congestion situations

• No gender differences• No difference in coping responses across congestion

conditions• Drivers prefered direct coping responses, but used both

direct and indirect behaviours equally• Compared to other responses, aggressive behaviours

dramatically increased as traffic congestion increased

Frequency of Individual Violent Driving Behaviours(Hennessy, Ph. D dissertation)

Behaviour Frequency

Chasing another driver/vehicle 40% (58)

Verbal roadside confrontation 23% (33)

Vandalizing another vehicle 14% (20)

Throwing objects at another vehicle 11% (16)

Physical roadside confrontation 7% (10)

Purposeful contact with another vehicle 4% (6)

Drive-by shootings 1% (2)

Suggestions for Reducing Highway Aggression

• Tension reduction strategies:– Use cell phones to inform others of delays

– Listen to traffic reports and use alternative routes where possible

– Listen to music, books-on-tape in cars while driving

• Anger management– Screen all drivers

– When a given demerit point level is reached, provide anger management workshops

• Enforcement of highway traffic act– Tailgating

– Signalling of lane changes

– Use of left lane as passing lane

Suggestions for Reducing Highway Aggression

• Promotion of mass transportation

• Deindividuation reduction:– Paint driver’s names/towns on doors and backs of vehicles– Ban deep tints– Promote vanity licence plates