The expression of anger on the road

Abstract

This research used the Driving Anger Expression Inventory (DAX) to investigate the expression of driving anger amongst a sample of New Zealand drivers. Confirmatory Factor Analysis found that the data fitted a three factor solution, which consisted of: Verbal Aggressive Expression; Use of a Vehicle to express anger, and an Adaptive/Constructive factor. The Personal Physical Aggressive Expression factor was not supported in the present sample. However, in line with previous findings, the present research found that the two aggressive types of anger expression were significantly related to potentially crash related conditions, such as: losing control of the vehicle, loss of concentration and near-misses. The two aggressive types of driving anger were also positively related to trait anger and driving anger, while the Adaptive/Constructive factor was negatively related to both these variables. The present study also confirmed that those drivers who expressed their anger in an aggressive manner are more likely to be male and younger, while those who deal with their anger in a constructive manner were more likely to be older and female.