Aggressive driving is a significant traffic safety issue. Some groups of drivers have been identified as the perpetrators and victims of aggressive driving: males, younger individuals, and individuals with high trait aggression. Even though many personal and contextual factors are relevant, the mechanisms behind the origin of aggressive driving are less defined. Judgment of intentionality, as part of an attributional process, has had some success in highlighting the connection among the cognitive, affective, and behavioral factors behind aggressive driving. This study focused on comparing gender-based attributions of ambiguous traffic situations and found that the affective component played a significant role in the judgment of intentionality. However, there were additional predictors for males. The findings highlight the importance of having a more forgiving attitude when interacting with other road users.
BaileyS.LennonA.WatsonB. (2016). Getting mad may not mean getting even: The influence of drivers’ ethical ideologies on driving anger and related behaviour. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 36, 104–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2015.11.004
4.
BalogunS. K.ShengeN. A.OladipoS. E. (2012). Psychosocial factors influencing aggressive driving among commercial and private automobile drivers in Lagos metropolis. The Social Science Journal, 49(1), 83–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2011.07.004
BrittT. W.GarrityM. J. (2006). Attributions and personality as predictors of the road rage response. British Journal of Social Psychology, 45(1), 127–147. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466605X41355
7.
BrookingsJ. B.DeRooH.GrimoneJ. (2008). Predicting driving anger from trait aggression and self-control. Psychological Reports, 103(2), 622–624. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.103.2.622-624
ConstantinouE.PanayiotouG.KonstantinouN.Loutsiou-LaddA.KapardisA. (2011). Risky and aggressive driving in young adults: Personality matters. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 43(4), 1323–1331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2011.02.002
10.
DeffenbacherJ. L.OettingE. R.LynchR. S. (1994). Development of a driving anger scale. Psychological Reports, 74(1), 83–91.
11.
DePasqualeJ. P.GellerE. S.ClarkeS. W.LittletonL. C. (2001). Measuring road rage: Development of the Propensity for Angry Driving Scale. Journal of Safety Research, 32(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4375(00)00050-5
12.
Ellison-PotterP.BellP.DeffenbacherJ. (2001). The effects of trait driving anger, anonymity, and aggressive stimuli on aggressive driving behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 31(2), 431–443. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2001.tb00204.x
13.
GoodwinA.ThomasL.KirleyB.HallW.O’BrienN.HillK. (2015). Countermeasures that work: A highway safety countermeasure guide for State highway safety offices, Eighth edition (DOT HS 812 202). National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
14.
HarrisP. B.HoustonJ. M. (2010). Recklessness in context: Individual and situational correlates to aggressive driving. Environment and Behavior, 42(1), 44–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916508325234
15.
LeeY.-C.LaVoieN. (2018). Instruction-prompted objective behaviors as proxy for subjective measures in a driving simulator. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 55, 58–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2018.03.002
16.
LeeY.-C.MomenA.LaFreniereJ. (Under review). Attributions of social interactions: Driving among self-driving vs. Conventional vehicles. Human Factors.
17.
LennonA. J.WatsonB. C. (2015). A matter of style? Driver attributional ‘style’ in accounting for the driving of others as protective or as predisposing drivers towards retaliatory aggressive driving. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 30, 163–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2015.03.001
18.
LennonA.WatsonB. (2011). “Teaching them a lesson?” A qualitative exploration of underlying motivations for driver aggression. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 43(6), 2200–2208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2011.06.015
19.
O’ConnorD. B.ArcherJ.WuF. W. C. (2001). Measuring aggression: Self-reports, partner reports, and responses to provoking scenarios. Aggressive Behavior, 27(2), 79–101.
20.
ÖzkanT.LajunenT. (2005). Why are there sex differences in risky driving? The relationship between sex and gender-role on aggressive driving, traffic offences, and accident involvement among young turkish drivers. Aggressive Behavior, 31(6), 547–558. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.20062
21.
RooyD. L. V.RottonJ.BurnsT. M. (2006). Convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity of aggressive driving inventories: They drive as they live. Aggressive Behavior, 32(2), 89–98. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.20113
22.
VallièresE. F.VallerandR. J.BergeronJ.McDuffP. (2014). Intentionality, anger, coping, and ego defensiveness in reactive aggressive driving. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 44(5), 354–363. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12228
23.
WeinerB. (2006). Social Motivation, Justice, and the Moral Emotions: An Attributional Approach. Psychology Press.
24.
WickensC. M.MannR. E.IalomiteanuA. R.StodutoG. (2016). Do driver anger and aggression contribute to the odds of a crash? A population-level analysis. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 42, 389–399. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2016.03.003
25.
WickensC. M.MannR. E.StodutoG.IalomiteanuA.SmartR. G. (2011). Age group differences in self-reported aggressive driving perpetration and victimization. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 14(5), 400–412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2011.04.007
26.
WickensC. M.WiesenthalD. L.FloraD. B.FlettG. L. (2011). Understanding driver anger and aggression: Attributional theory in the driving environment. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 17(4), 354–370. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025815
