Aggressive Driving, Rule-Breaking, and Driver Stress in Spanish-speaking countries

Abstract

Driver Aggression is a phenomenon many have studied in all five continents. It has been the focus of curiosity for all sorts of disciplines, and science has been unable to curb it, much less park it. Driver Stress, Road Aggression and Road Rule-Breaking are crucial elements in traffic psychology. Those who do not respect the rules are a major factor in increased risk and the occurrence of major traffic accidents. Little work has been done on how these phenomena behave in Spanish-speaking countries, much less the development of useful instruments to evaluate them. This study aims to generate two unique scales that can be used in Spanish speaking countries regardless of culture or geography, as well as determining the influence Driver Stress has on Driver Aggression and Rule-Breaking. This study comprises a sample of 1827 drivers from Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Spain. Through this paper, a small yet significant relationship was found between Driver Stress, Driver Aggression, and Driver Rule-Breaking. This suggests that personality factors are at play in these relationships in Spanish-speaking countries, and that these variables are an important factor on how drivers behave. This study also delivers two useful tools for evaluating Driver Aggression (LatinCAT) and Driver Rule-Breaking (LatinDANT) that have excellent construct validity for further research in Spanish-speaking countries.