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A qualitative study of college students' perceptions of risky driving and social influences
- Source :
- Traffic injury prevention. 17(2)
- Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- Young adults and teens are documented as the riskiest drivers on the road, and newer issues such as texting and driving are a growing concern. This study sought to determine the risk perceptions of young adults regarding various driving behaviors, their past experiences, how their social circles are structured, and how this might affect their driving.This study conducted qualitative research with 25 college undergraduate students to determine their peer and social influences regarding distracted driving. Data were analyzed and related to the health belief model and past research on social influence.Though most participants felt that their behaviors were set after learning to drive, they were, in fact, quite susceptible to the influence of those in their social circles (e.g., fear of judgment and accountability) and, more broadly, to social norms. Texting and driving was the largest and most topical distracted driving issue and was also identified as very difficult to stop due to perceived barriers and the idea that intervening is rude. Participants identified low perceived susceptibility and severity (perceived threat) for a number of risky driving behaviors, including texting and driving.Training is needed to encourage people to intervene and speak up regarding behaviors other than drinking and driving, and cues to action and campaigns should target intervention to increase self-efficacy, as well as norms, susceptibility, and common rationalizations for risky behavior.
- Subjects :
- Male
Engineering
Automobile Driving
Adolescent
Alcohol Drinking
Universities
Poison control
Suicide prevention
Risk Assessment
Peer Group
Young Adult
Risk-Taking
0502 economics and business
Health belief model
Distracted driving
Humans
0501 psychology and cognitive sciences
Interpersonal Relations
Students
050107 human factors
Qualitative Research
Social influence
050210 logistics & transportation
Text Messaging
business.industry
05 social sciences
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Human factors and ergonomics
Peer group
Female
business
Safety Research
Social psychology
Qualitative research
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 1538957X
- Volume :
- 17
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Traffic injury prevention
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....92804b533c77320b4945dc6a8ecb8487