Citation

Hennessy DA, Wiesenthal DL. J. Appl. Soc. Psychol. 2005; 35(1): 61-79.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, State University of New York College at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14222, USA. (e-mail: hennesda@buffalostate.edu)

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1559-1816.2005.tb02093.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A total of 93 drivers (46 female, 47 male) from Toronto, Canada, with at least 5 years' driving experience, completed a battery of self-report questionnaires assessing the likelihood of engaging in mild driver aggression, frequency of past driver violence, driving vengeance, and willful violations. All were recruited as voluntary participants through posted signs, personal contact, and referrals. Mild driver aggression increased independently with elevated vengeance and elevated violations. Driver violence was predicted by the three-way interaction of Vengeance x Violations x Gender such that violence increased in male drivers with a vengeful attitude, especially in combination with higher levels of violations. The data indicated that driver aggression and violence (road rage) were more prevalent among drivers who held clusters of other dangerous driving attitudes and behaviors as part of their typical behavior routine.