Ethical Predispositions to Violate or Obey Traffic Rules and the Mediating Role of Driving Styles

ABSTRACT

Traffic law violations are the most important determinants of traffic accidents. This study examined the influence of drivers' ethical perspective on their traffic violations and the mediating role of driving styles in these relationships. A sample of 313 drivers participated in the study. Contrary to expectations, high ethical relativism was found to be associated with fewer aggressive traffic violations. This suggests that the informal normative system that parallels the official traffic regulations is the more salient reference against which drivers usually assess the adequacy of their behaviors, highly relativistic drivers being more willing to also take into consideration the official traffic code in these appraisals. We also found significant interactions between idealism and relativism on both ordinary and aggressive violations. Idealism emerged as a predictor of these violations only in drivers low in relativism. In this group, one's concern about the harm that he/she might cause to other traffic participants induces higher traffic law abidingness. These influences of idealism were mediated by certain driving styles. Drivers' general ethical perspective fosters a specific pattern of driving styles and, consequently, the tendency to commit or to refrain from traffic violations.

KEYWORDS:

• Personality
• moral judgment
• values

Author Notes

Andrei C. Holman, PhD is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology, Alexandru I. Cuza University Iasi, Romania. His research has focused on the identification of the psychological underpinnings of driving behavior, and on the interplay between emotional, cognitive and moral factors in decision making in traffic and in other risk-related fields, such as health or environmental behaviors.Simona A. Popusoi, MS is a doctoral student at the Department of Psychology, Alexandru I. Cuza University of Iasi, Romania. She obtained a BS in Psychology and a MS in Work and Traffic Psychology, both from Faculty of Psychology and Educational Studies, Alexandru I. Cuza of Iasi, Romania. The focus of her studies involves individual and social factors involved in drivers' negative emotions and maladaptive traffic behaviors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation, CNCS—UEFISCDI, project number PN-II-RU-TE-2014-4-2872.