The goal of the present study was to examine the role of personality and individual differences on aggressive driving. It was hypothesized that personality and individual differences would be significantly related to aggressive driving behavior. A sample of n = 252 participants from a southeastern university and surrounding community were required to complete a series of driving questionnaires; the ADBQ, DBQ, and CFQ-D; and a series of personality questionnaires; the IPIP-NEO-PIR and BFI. Our results indicated that personality factors and individual differences significantly predicted aggressive driving outcomes. These results provided a preliminary personality based characteristic profile of the aggressive driver. These results also support the use of trait anger and trait cooperation independently from the subscales they are derived from (Neuroticism and Agreeableness) to predict aggressive driving behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. (2016). Prevalence of Self-Reported Aggressive Driving Behavior: United States, 2014. Washington, DC: AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
2.
BogdanS. R.MăireanC.HavârneanuC. E. (2016). A meta-analysis of the association between anger and aggressive driving. Transportation research part F: traffic psychology and behaviour, 42, 350–364.
3.
BoneS. A.MowenJ. C. (2006). Identifying the traits of aggressive and distracted drivers: A hierarchical trait model approach.
4.
BroadbentD. E.CooperP. F.FitzGeraldP.ParkesK. R. (1982). The cognitive failures questionnaire (CFQ) and its correlates. British journal of clinical psychology, 21(1), 1–16.
5.
ChraifM.AniţeiM.BurtăverdeV.MihăilăT. (2016). The link between personality, aggressive driving, and risky driving outcomes– testing a theoretical model. Journal of Risk Research, 19(6), 780–797.
6.
DahlenE. R.MartinR. C.RaganK.KuhlmanM. M. (2005). Driving anger, sensation seeking, impulsiveness, and boredom proneness in the prediction of unsafe driving. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 37(2), 341–348.
7.
DeffenbacherJ. L.OettingE. R.LynchR. S. (1994). Development of a driving anger scale. Psychological reports, 74(1), 83–91.
8.
FaulF.ErdfelderE.LangA.-G.BuchnerA. (2007). G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39, 175–191.
9.
GăianuP. A.GiosanC.SârbescuP. (2020). From trait anger to aggressive violations in road traffic. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 70, 15–24.
10.
IancuA. E.HogeaA.OlteanuA. F. (2016). The association between personality and aggressive driving: A meta-analysis. Romanian Journal of Psychology, 18(2).
11.
JohnO. P.NaumannL. P.SotoC. J. (2008). Paradigm Shift to the Integrative Big-Five Trait Taxonomy: History, Measurement, and Conceptual Issues. In JohnO. P.RobinsR. W.PervinL. A. (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 114–158). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
12.
JohnO. P.SrivastavaS. (1999). The Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. In PervinL. A. O.JohnP. (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (2nd ed., pp. 102–138). New York: Guilford Press.
13.
JohnO. P.DonahueE. M.KentleR. L. (1991). The Big Five Inventory-Versions 4a and 54. Berkeley, CA: University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Personality and Social Research
14.
KassS.J.LaytonA.DoolenM. (2008). Driver inattention questionnaire. Pensacola, FL: University of West Florida (Unpublished scale).
15.
LajunenT.ParkerD. (2001). Are aggressive people aggressive drivers? A study of the relationship between self-reported general aggressiveness, driver anger and aggressive driving. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 33(2), 243–255. doi:10.1016/s0001-4575(00)00039-7
16.
LiS.ZhangT.SawyerB. D.ZhangW.HancockP. A. (2019). Angry drivers take risky decisions: evidence from neurophysiological assessment. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(10), 1701.
17.
MoulouaM.BrillJ. C.ShirkeyE. (2007). Gender differences and aggressive driving behavior: A factor analytic study. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 51st Meeting. 1283–1286.
18.
ReasonJ.MansteadA.StradlingS.BaxterJ.CampbellK. (1990). Errors and violations on the roads: a real distinction?Ergonomics, 33(10-11), 1315–1332.
SârbescuP.MaricuţoiuL. (2019). Are you a “bad driver” all the time? Insights from a weekly diary study on personality and dangerous driving behavior. Journal of research in personality, 80, 30–37.
21.
TabibiZ.BorzabadiH. H.StavrinosD.MashhadiA. (2015). Predicting aberrant driving behaviour: The role of executive function. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour,34, 18–28. doi:10.1016/j.trf.2015.07.015
22.
WickensC. M.ToplakM. E.WiesenthalD. L. (2008). Cognitive failures as predictors of driving errors, lapses, and violations. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 40(3), 1223–1233. doi:10.1016/j.aap.2008.01.006
23.
WhitneyP.JamesonT.HinsonJ. M. (2004). Impulsiveness and executive control of working memory. Personality and Individual Differences, 37(2), 417–428.
