THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IMPULSIVE DRIVING AND DRIVING ANGER EXPRESSION IN TRAFFIC SAFETY CONTEXT

Safety and security have been studied under different dimensions, like military and economic security, or at different levels like individual and societal levels. At the present time, safety and security in traffic context is an issue manifesting itself on different dimensions and at different levels; in addition to being an underestimated societal health and security problem. This fact shows the importance of investigating the characteristics of the behaviors which can be accepted as offense or having the potential to constitute an offense. The aim of the present study is investigating the relationships between impulsive driving and driving anger expression, as two individual characteristics being related to risky driving, by using context-specific measures. A total of 237 licensed university students between the ages of 18 and 25 participated into the study. The participants were asked to complete a questionnaire including a demographic information form, the Impulsive Driver Behavior Scale, and the Driving Anger Expression Inventory. To investigate the relationship between impulsive driving and driving anger expression, hierarchical regression analyses were conducted after controlling for the statistical effects of gender and lifetime kilometer. The results showed that impulsive driving is related to the driving anger expression among young drivers. Especially, driver urgency is positively related to aggressive expression of driving anger, whereas it is negatively related to adaptive/constructive anger expression. In the present study, the relationship between impulsive driving and driving anger expression was studied for the first time in the literature by using context-specific measures. The results of the study were discussed in relation to safety and security in traffic context