The expression of driving anger in a sample of Italian drivers

Abstract

This study examined the factor structure and the psychometric properties of the Driving Anger Expression Inventory (DAX) in a large sample of Italian drivers. After removing several items and allowing six error pairs to correlate, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (n = 1007) supported a four-factor solution that broadly confirmed the four original factors, and this was confirmed in a second group (N = 1047) of drivers. The three aggressive factors (physical aggressive expression, use of a vehicle and verbal aggressive expression) were positively related, while the adaptive/constructive subscale was negatively related to measures of trait anger and aggressive driving. In addition, younger drivers reported engaging in the aggressive forms of expression more frequently, while older drivers reported more frequently engaging in the adaptive/constructive form of expression. Finally, those who had crashed in the past three years reported more frequently engaging in the three aggressive forms of expression, while those that had not crashed reported more frequently engaging in the adaptive/constructive form of expression. Although the DAX factors showed moderate correlations with social desirability, the associations between the different forms of driving anger expression, aggressive driving and crash involvement remained significant when controlling for socially desirable responding.