A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Counselling Psychology) in the Department of Psychology, University of Zululand, 2010. / The main objective of this study was to find out the self-perceived psychological factors that may contribute to road rage in Empangeni. A phenomenological approach was adopted in this study to facilitate the understanding of the information gathered. The sample consisted of 10 participants, 9 males and 1 female. All participants were the drivers. Open-ended questions were asked from the participants. The findings of this study revealed the following themes: impatience, frustrations and anger; substance abuse contribution to bad driving; bad mood leading to aggressive driving; disrespecting other road users; poor compliance with the rules of the road; prolonged hours of driving leading to fatigue; family and work related problems impacting on drivers; attention and focus; gender issues; and bad driving viewed on media (television) impacting on drivers. The study concluded with a brief discussion on the limitations of the study and recommendations for future research.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 1999. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-120). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:NQ39272

Aggressive driving is not clearly and consistently defined in the literature, neither in terms of the specific behaviors chosen for inclusion nor the degree to which the emotional state of the driver is taken into account. Principally, the aim of this current research is to determine the extent to which aggressive driving and road rage overlap. This will be accomplished primarily by applying two well-supported dichotomies in aggression research: hostile/instrumental and impulsive/premeditated. Relevant personality traits will also be measured to help discern the aggressive driving- road rage overlap and to explore secondary areas of interest, such as sex and age differences in driver aggression.

Graduation date: 2004 / Best scan available. Text at top of each page is blurry or missing on original copy.

Thesis (MA (Criminology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

The aim of this study is to further establish the validity and reliability of the Dula Dangerous Driving Index (DDDI). The reliability and validity of the instrument was investigated by comparing data from a US university sample, a US community sample, and a sample of Belgian traffic offenders. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis supported the presence of a four-factor structure with items for Drunk Driving forming a separate scale apart from items for Risky Driving, Negative Cognitive/Emotional Driving and Aggressive Driving. A multi-group confirmatory factor analysis with model constraints supported the validity of the DDDI. Inter-correlations revealed that the DDDI subscales are closely interrelated and uni-dimensionality of the measure was found in all three samples. This suggests the DDDI Total score can be used as a composite measure for dangerous driving. However, the validity of the subscales was demonstrated in the Belgian sample, as specific traffic offender groups (convicted for drunk driving, aggressive driving, speeding) scored higher on corresponding scales (Drunk Driving, Aggressive Driving, and Risky Driving, respectively), indicating that it is clinically meaningful to differentiate the subscales.

In the present study possible associations between driver characteristics and aggressive driving were examined. 210 participants responded to a questionnaire consisting of self-report measures of emotion regulation ability, personality traits, and attitudes towards traffic behaviours in a Swedish translation of the Propensity for Angry Driving Scale (PADS). The main results showed that females, older age, agreeableness, openness, and social desirability were negatively correlated with angry driving behaviour as measured by the PADS. Impulsivity, attention seeking, trait irritability, verbal trait aggression, positive attitude towards speeding, and a high self-reported car manoeuvring ability were positively correlated with angry driving. Partial correlations showed that social desirability, trait irritability, and a positive attitude towards speeding explained most of the unique variance. Multiple regression analysis showed that trait irritability, positive attitude towards speeding, and a high self-reported car manoeuvring ability were the most important predictors of angry driving.

Research has suggested that affective states have critical effects on various cognitive processes and performance. Evidence from driving studies has also emphasized the importance of driver situation awareness (Endsley, 1995b) for driving performance and safety. However, to date, no research has investigated the relationship between affective effects and driver situation awareness. Two studies examined the relationship between a driver's affective states and situation awareness. In Experiment 1, 30 undergraduates drove in a simulator after either anger or neutral affect induction. Results suggested that an induced angry state can degrade driver situation awareness and driving performance more than the neutral state. Interestingly, the angry state did not influence participants' perceived workload. Experiment 2 explored the possibilities of using an "attention deployment" emotion regulation strategy as an intervention for mitigating angry effects on driving, via an adaptive speech-based system. 60 undergraduates drove the same scenario as in Experiment 1 after affect induction with different intervention conditions: anger with no sound; anger with the ER system: directive/ command style emotion regulation messages; anger with the SA system: suggestive/ notification style situation awareness prompts; or neutral with no sound. Results showed that both speech-based systems can not only enhance driver situation awareness and driving performance, but also reduce the anger level and perceived workload. Participants rated the ER system as more effective, but they rated the SA system as less annoying and less authoritative than the ER system. Based on the results of Experiment 2, regression models were constructed between a driver's affective states and driving performance, being mediated by situation awareness (full mediation for speeding and partial mediation for collision). These results allow researchers to construct a more detailed driver behavior model by showing how an affective state can influence driver situation awareness and performance. The practical implications of this research include the use of situation awareness prompts as a possible strategy for mitigating affective effects, for the design of an affect detection and mitigation system for drivers.

This project will address the increasing problem of violence on our nations roadways. This form of violence, termed road rage, is also occurring worldwide.

Aggressive driving is a phenomenon that has taken on tremendous significance in society. While the issue has been studied from perspectives of several disciplines, relatively few comprehensive empirical investigations have been conducted. This may be due, at least in part, to a scarcity of comprehensive theoretical works in the field, from which methodical research hypotheses could be derived. This paper reviews major extant theories of general aggression to offer a rationale for choosing a particular framework to apply to the topic of aggressive driving. The social-cognitive model of aggressive driving is recommended, as it takes into account wide-ranging cognitive, situational, and dispositional factors. Implications for future research are also considered.