Abstract
To explore the influences of traffic-related negative emotions on driving decisions, we induced drivers’ three emotions (neutral emotion, traffic-related negative emotion, and traffic-unrelated negative emotion) by videos, then the drivers were shown traffic pictures at different risk levels and made decisions about whether to slow down, while their eye movements were recorded. We found that traffic-related negative emotion influenced driving decisions. Compared with neutral emotion, traffic-related negative emotion led to an increase in the number of decelerations, and the higher the risk, the more the number of decelerations. The visual processing time of the risk area was shorter in the traffic-related negative emotional state than that in the neutral emotional state. The less time drivers spend looking at the risk area, the faster they make their driving decisions. The results suggest that traffic-related negative emotions lead drivers to make more conservative decisions. This study supports the rationality of using traffic accident materials to conduct safety education for drivers. This article also discussed the significance of traffic-related negative emotions to social security.
Highlights
The number of motor vehicles increases rapidly, which leads to an increase in traffic accidents
According to the eye movements data results, we found that drivers in traffic-related negative emotional states had a shorter visual processing time of risk than that in a neutral emotional state
Results of the correlation showed that The shorter time for which drivers gazed at the risk area is related to the faster speed at which they made driving decisions
Summary
The number of motor vehicles increases rapidly, which leads to an increase in traffic accidents. Fatalities in a road traffic accident are caused by a series of factors including people, vehicles, roads, and the environment (Wang et al, 2019). Driver’s emotion, as one of the main psychological factors, is sometimes not controlled by cognition, and may spontaneously influence driving behaviors (Strongman, 2003; Šeibokaiteet al., 2017; Maldonado et al, 2020). Affected, and rapidly changeable state of mind (Zimasa et al, 2016), which arises when something important to us is at stake and calls forth a coordinated set of behavioral, experiential, and physiological response tendencies that together influence how we respond to perceived challenges and opportunities (Gross, 2002)
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