Abstract
Risky decision-making is highly influenced by emotions and can lead to fatal consequences. Attempts to reduce risk-taking include the use of mindfulness-based interventions (MBI), which have shown promising results for both emotion regulation (ER) and risk-taking. However, it is still unclear whether improved emotion regulation is the mechanism responsible for reduced risk-taking. In the present study, we explore the effect of a 5-week MBI on risky driving in a group of repeat traffic offenders by comparing them with non-repeat offenders and repeat offenders without training. We evaluated the driving behavior of the participants through a driving simulation, and self-reported emotion regulation, both before and after the intervention. At baseline, poor emotion regulation was related to a more unstable driving behavior, and speeding. The group that received mindfulness training showed improved performance during risky driving situations and had fewer accidents, although their overall driving behavior remained largely unchanged. The observed trend toward improved emotion regulation was not significant. We discuss whether other effects of MBI – such as self-regulation of attention – could underlie the observed reduction in risky driving in the initial stages. Nonetheless, our findings still confirm the close relationship between emotion regulation skills and risky driving.
Highlights
Life involves constant decision-making with regard to what actions to take and some situations can lead us to take certain risks, e.g., when we are in a rush or in a bad or even euphoric mood
Since the performance rating is based on other indices during the risk situations, we observed strong associations between all of these indices and the baseline performance ratings (Pearson’s r: min = −0.338, p < 0.001, max = −0.847, p < 0.001; Table 2), while the improvement in performance rating measured with the Behavior Shift Index (BSI) is associated with the BSI of the other indices (Pearson’s r: min = −0.253, p < 0.05, max = −0.624, p < 0.001; Table 2), which is even stronger and more consistent in the R-M group (Pearson’s r: min = −0.407, p < 0.05, max = −0.835, p < 0.001; Table 2)
We explored the effect of mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) on driving behavior and emotion regulation (ER)
Summary
Life involves constant decision-making with regard to what actions to take and some situations can lead us to take certain risks, e.g., when we are in a rush or in a bad or even euphoric mood. Mindfulness Training and Risky Driving behavior has been identified as one of the reasons why people take more risks at the wheel and suffer more road accidents (Taubman – Ben-Ari et al, 2016), while speeding has been linked to higher accident and fatality rates (OECD, 2018). Several studies have found that the use of appropriate ER strategies is associated with a safer driving behavior, while difficulties in ER, such as not being aware or able to control impulsive behavior or emotional responses, has been linked to risky driving behavior and traffic violations, for instance exceeding speed limits and mobile use while driving (Hancock et al, 2012; Trógolo et al, 2014; Sani et al, 2017; Šeibokaitė et al, 2017; Parlangeli et al, 2018; Navon and Taubman – Ben-Ari, 2019)
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