What makes cyclists angry? The relationships between trait anger, interest in cycling and self-reported comfort levels

Abstract

Over the past two decades, there has been a substantial amount of research showing the detrimental influence of trait driver anger on road safety. However, very few studies have investigated this phenomenon in more vulnerable road user groups, such as cyclists. This study administered the Cycling Anger Scale (CAS) to a sample of 636 active cyclists (who regularly ride on-road) to understand the situations that provoke anger in cyclists, and whether this anger differed according to their comfort levels with cycling. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis on the CAS showed that a four-factor solution fit the data. These were: (1) interactions with cars, (2) interactions with pedestrians, (3) interactions with other cyclists, and (4) police presence. The least anger provoking situations involved interactions with police. In contrast, the most anger provoking situations involved interactions with cars. This is likely to be due to the higher level of danger associated with collisions with motor vehicles for cyclists. Anger also differed according to levels of cycling confidence. Cyclists with higher levels of confidence generally reported lower levels of anger, particularly when interacting with cars and other cyclists. This study represents one of the few to use the CAS to measure cyclist anger and the findings align with previous applications of the CAS. Further research is warranted amongst a more diverse sample of cyclists to strengthen our understanding of cyclists’ behaviours.