Citation

Ben-Ari OT, Florian V, Mikulincer M. Accid. Anal. Prev. 2000; 32(1): 1-10.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10576671

Abstract

A series of two studies examined the effects of threat appeals on reckless driving from a terror management theory perspective. In both studies, all the participants (N = 109) reported on the relevance of driving to their self-esteem, and, then, half of them were exposed to a road trauma film and the remaining to a neutral film. In Study 1, the dependent variable was the self-report of intentions to drive recklessly in hypothetical scenarios. In Study 2, the dependent variable was actual behavior (driving speed) in a driving simulator. Findings indicated that a road trauma film led to less reported intentions of reckless driving, but to higher driving speed than a neutral film. These effects were only found among participants who perceived driving as relevant to their self-esteem. The discussion emphasized the self-enhancing mechanisms proposed by the terror management theory.