The Relationship between Dispositional Affect and Traffic Locus of Control in Driving

Abstract

The locus of control and dispositional affect of drivers has been claimed to influence driver behaviors. The positive affect and internal locus of control were usually claimed to be related to safety behaviors, whereas negative affect and external locus of control were shown as related to risky behaviors. To investigate the locus of control in the traffic context, multidimensional traffic locus of control (T-LOC) was developed with four dimensions; self, other drivers, vehicle/environment, and fate. In the current study, these four dimensions were used to investigate traffic locus of control. Even though traffic locus of control and affect factors are widely referred to as related to driver behaviors, their relationship has not been investigated. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between drivers' traffic locus of control and dispositional affect. The results showed that positive affect was related to attributing to other drivers and fate rather than their behaviors. On the other hand, negative affect led drivers to attribute causes of accidents to their behavior. The implications of the results, the limitations of the study, and the future directions were discussed.