Aggression
Conditions
Keywords
aggressive driving; road rage
Brief summary
Driving a car is the most dangerous behavior most people engage in every day. According to the World Health Organization, about 1.25 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes, and they are the leading cause of death among 15 to 29 year olds. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 37,461 Americans were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2016 - about 103 per day. Although there are several causes of traffic crashes (e.g., texting, alcohol consumption, inclement weather), the leading cause is aggressive driving. In the United States, aggressive driving accounts for more than half of all traffic fatalities. Thus, aggressive driving is an important applied health topic, especially for young drivers.
Detailed description
Experimental studies are needed to draw inferences about the causes of aggressive driving. Only six driving simulation experiments have been conducted, and one of these experiment was conducted by the investigators (Bushman, Kerwin, Whitlock, & Weisenberger, 2017). The proposed research will test the effects of seven situational risk factors: (1) racing video games (Experiment 2), (2) racial bumper stickers (i.e., Black Lives Matter bumper stickers for white motorists vs. All Lives Matter bumper stickers for black motorists; Experiment 3), (3) political bumper stickers (i.e., Donald Trump for President 2016 for Democrat motorists vs. Hillary Clinton for President 2016 for Republican motorists; Experiment 4), (4) alcohol-related cues (i.e., a case of beer vs. water on the passenger seat; Experiment 5), (5) music with violent lyrics (Experiment 6), (6) music with an upbeat tempo (Experiment 6), and (7) roadside trash (Experiment 7). The proposed research will also test the effects of five situational protective factors: (1) racial bumper stickers (i.e., Black Lives Matter for black motorists vs. All Lives Matter for white motorists; Experiment 3), (2) political bumper stickers (i.e., Donald Trump for President 2016 for Republican motorists vs. Hillary Clinton for President 2016 for Democrat motorists; Experiment 4), (3) music with prosocial lyrics (Experiment 6), (4) music with a calm tempo (Experiment 6), and (5) roadside vegetation (Experiment 7).
Interventions
BEHAVIORALVideos
Videos depicting various aggressive driving and road rage behaviors.
BEHAVIORALBumper stickers
Bumper stickers hypothesized to increase or decrease aggressive driving.
BEHAVIORALAlcohol-related cues
Case of beer or water on passenger seat.
BEHAVIORALMusic
Lyrics and tempo of music will be manipulated to increase or decrease aggressive driving.
BEHAVIORALRoadside vegetation
The roadside will contain trash to increase aggressive driving, or vegetation to decrease aggressive driving. There is also a control group.
BEHAVIORALVideo game
Participants will play a racing or neutral video game before driving in the simulator.
Sponsors
Ohio State University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
FACTORIAL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
Seven driving simulation experiments on aggressive driving and road rage (see descriptions above).
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Participants will be adults recruited from Central Ohio (Franklin County) through advertisements (e.g., newspaper, Internet). * Participants' ages will vary depending on the experiment. 18 and older for Experiment 1; 18-21 for Experiments 2-4 and 6-7; 21+ for Experiment 5 * All participants must have a current driver license.
Exclusion criteria
• Participants who have motion sickness will be excluded.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Road rage | Observed in driving scenario during the experimental session, up to one hour. | The four primary measures of road rage will be colliding into other vehicles, motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Acts of road rage are expected to occur far less frequently than acts of aggressive driving. Acts of road rage will be combined to reduce Type I errors. |
| Aggressive driving behavior | Observed in driving scenario during the experimental session | The two primary measures of aggressive driving will be tailgating and speeding. Tailgating measures are based on the number of seconds between the participant's car and the car in front of them: (1) 4-second rule (recommended for speeds above 30 MPH, in heavy traffic, or when there are many obstacles, as in the present driving scenario), (2) 3-second rule (dangerous), and (3) 2-second rule (extremely dangerous). Average speed is a poor measure of speeding because it depends heavily on random influences. Instead, a relatively high-speed cutoff (e.g., 50 MPH) will be used before averaging because it removes the variability due to traffic. Other measures of aggressive driving include off-road driving (e.g., crossing the double solid yellow lines into oncoming traffic, driving on the shoulder), horn honking, verbal aggression, and aggressive gestures (e.g., giving another driver the middle finger). Measures of aggressive driving will be combined to reduce Type I errors. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| State anger | Immediately after completing driving scenario, during the experimental session, up to one hour. | In the proposed research, state anger will be measured using the State Anger Scale (Spielberger, 1988), which contains 15 items (e.g., I feel angry) that are rated on a 4-point scale (1 = Not at all; 2 = Somewhat; 3 = Moderately so; 4 = Very much so; Cronbach = .93). |
| Hostile attributions | Immediately after completing driving scenario, during the experimental session, up to one hour. | Research has shown that the hostile attribution bias can influence appraisal and decision processes. The hostile attribution bias is the tendency to perceive ambiguous actions by others as aggressive. For example, if a driver cuts you off, a hostile attribution would be that the driver did it purposely (not accidentally). Research has shown that attributing causality to an offending driver predicts aggressive driving. In the proposed research, we will measure whether people assign blame to other drivers using a measure successfully used in previous research. For each provocative event, participants will be asked whether the actions of the other driver were intentional or accidental. For example, Do you think the other driver deliberately cut you off? vs. I think the other driver cut me off by accident (1=Not at all to 7=Very much so). In Experiments 2-4, 6-7, we expect hostile appraisals to be positively related to aggressive driving. This measure is not included in Experiment 5. |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Empathy | Completed after consent is signed, before the driving simulation experiment begins. | Empathy involves feeling compassion for others and imagining how they feel. We expect empathy to be negatively related to aggressive driving. Empathy will be measured using the Single Item Trait Empathy Scale (SITES): To what extent does the following statement describe you: 'I am an empathetic person.' (Note: An empathetic person understands others' feelings, and experiences care and concern for them.), which is scored using a 5-point scale (Not very true of me to 5 = Very true of me) |
| Trait anger | Completed after consent is signed, before the driving simulation experiment begins. | Trait anger is a personality dimension that reflects the person's chronic tendency to experience the emotion of state anger with greater frequency, intensity, and duration. Trait anger is an important antecedent of state anger and aggression. Trait anger will be measured using the Trait Anger Scale, which contains 10 items (e.g., I have a fiery temper) that are rated on a 4-point scale (1 = Almost never; 2 = Sometimes; 3 = Often; 4 = Almost always) |
| Narcissism | Completed after consent is signed, before the driving simulation experiment begins. | Narcissism is characterized by excessive self-love and a selfish orientation. Previous research has shown that narcissism is a risk factor for aggressive driving. Narcissism will be measured using the Single Item Narcissism Scale (SINS): To what extent do you agree with this statement: 'I am a narcissist.' (Note: The word narcissist means egotistical, self-focused, vain, etc.), which is scored using a 7-point scale (1 = Not very true of me to 7 = Very true of me). |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed