Citation

Beullens K, Van den Bulck J. Accid. Anal. Prev. 2008; 40(1): 349-356.

Affiliation

Leuven School for Mass Communication Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Parkstraat 45 (Box 3603), 3000 Leuven, Belgium.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.aap.2007.07.002

PMID

18215568

Abstract

This study explored the relationship between adolescents' viewing of specific television genres (action movies, news and music videos) and the intention to take risks in traffic. Participants were 2194 adolescent boys and girls who completed a questionnaire on television viewing, risk perception and the intention to speed and drive after consuming alcohol. As hypothesized, more news viewing was associated with a higher perceived risk of drunk driving and speeding. More music video viewing, on the other hand, was negatively associated with the assessment of the dangers of speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol. Girls regarded speeding and drunk driving as more dangerous than boys did. Contrary to our hypotheses, action movie viewing did not make a significant contribution to our models. Both news and music video viewing were indirectly, via risk perception, related to the intention to drive risky. The more dangerous a particular behavior was perceived to be, the less likely respondents intended to exhibit this behavior in the future.

Language: en