Cognition and Aggressive Driving Behavior: The Moderating Role of Impulsivity

• In Event: Cognitive capacities and criminal behaviour

Abstract

Aggressive driving behavior has proven to be one of the most problematic social issues, with human factors, such as personality traits and cognitive processes playing a role in its adoption. Impulsivity is one of the psychological variables that has received the most attention in the study of this phenomenon. In fact, this self-regulated context, where drivers decide how to act, allows impulsivity to be freely expressed. Moreover, beyond being an independent predictor of such behavior, impulsivity can also influence the relationship between information processing and aggressive behavior, given that impulsive individuals may be less able to integrate information and consider future long-term consequences of their behavior. In light of this, the relationship between hostile attribution bias (HAB i.e., tendency to interpret others as hostile when social context cues are ambiguous) and aggressive driving behavior could be stronger, as could the relationship between positive evaluation of an aggressive response and behavior.
Given this background, and using Crick and Dodge (1994) Social Information Processing (SIP) Model as a framework, this study, conducted with 278 drivers, aims to analyze: i) the link between impulsivity, HAB, positive evaluation of aggressive response and aggressive driving behavior; ii) the moderating role of impulsivity in the relationship between HAB, positive evaluation of aggressive response and driving aggressive behavior; and iii) sex differences in the variables under study and in the moderation analyses conducted.
Results demonstrated a positive association between positive evaluation of aggressive response and impulsivity, but not between impulsivity and HAB. Nevertheless, impulsivity moderated the relationship between HAB and aggressive driving behavior, but only in men. Conversely, in women, the relationship between positive evaluation of aggressive response and aggressive driving behavior was moderated by impulsivity.
Results will be discussed in light of the SIP model, personality factors, and sex differences in aggressive driving behavior.

Authors

• Mariana Sebastião Machado, School of Criminology, Faculty of Law - University of Porto /CIJ - Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Justice

• Cândido da Agra, Emeritus Professor, University of Porto / Center for Juridical, Economic and Environmental Studies (CEJEA), University Lusíada

• Gilda Santos, CIJ - Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Justice; School of Criminology, Faculty of Law, University of Porto

• Carla Sofia Cardoso, Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Crime Justice and Security (CJS) - School of Criminology, Faculty of Law of the University of Porto