Safety attitudes,behaviour, anxiety and perceived control among professional and non-professional drivers

The current study aimed to investigate differences in psychological safety factors such as attitudes and behaviour among professional and non-professional drivers. Differences in accident involvement and the number of speeding tickets were also investigated. An additional aim was to study factors associated with risky driver behaviour and speeding tickets in these groups. A questionnaire survey was distributed by mail to a randomly selected sample from the Norwegian population registry (N?=?6203). The response rate was 30% and the final sample consisted of 1864 individuals. Adjusted for demographic characteristics and road traffic exposure the results showed that professional drivers (n?=?113) reported significantly less seat belt use and watchful driving than non-professional drivers (n?=?1594). Professional drivers reported significantly less fun riding and safer attitudes regarding addressing the unsafe driving of others. The professional drivers also reported significantly safer behaviour related to drink driving, but lower priorities of road traffic safety. Professional drivers perceived significantly more control and had been involved in more accidents than the non-professional drivers. The results suggest that professional drivers may constitute a risk group in road traffic. Further research could focus on barriers of seat belt use and mechanisms, which could promote safety priorities in this driver group. The knowledge gained by such studies could be utilised by company managers in order to promote safer behaviour among professional drivers.     

Social cognition and personality traits related to risky driving in a Turkish sample

Aims: The aim of the study was to make a theoretical contribution by investigating social cognitive factors and personality traits related to risky driver behaviour in a Turkish sample. The study tested three theoretical models by Structural Equation Modelling: (1) a model using risk perception and attitudes towards traffic safety to predict driver behaviour, (2) a model which used normlessness and sensation-seeking traits to predict such behaviour and (3) a model which used both the social cognitive factors and personality traits to predict driver behaviour. Methods: A questionnaire survey with validated measurement instruments was conducted in a sample of Turkish drivers (n?=?213). The response rate was 61%. Results: A combined social cognitive and personality trait model had tolerable fit and explained 24% of the variance in driver behaviour. The relations between personality traits and risk perception with driver behaviour were mediated through attitudes towards traffic safety. Risk-taking personality traits had relatively strong relations to unsafe driver behaviour, whereas risk perception had a relatively weak relation to such behaviour. Conclusions: A combined social cognitive and trait approach may be efficient in human factor campaigns aimed to reduce risky driver behaviour in Turkey. Personality traits may be important for driver behaviour because they influence the attitudinal determinants of such behaviour. Increased police enforcement of road traffic regulations may reduce risky driving among individuals with normlessness and sensation-seeking traits. Personality traits may also guide efforts aimed at early identification of risky drivers and campaigns could be tailored to specific personality characteristics.     

The role of safety culture/climate and social cognitive factors for driving behaviors of Turkish professional drivers transporting petroleum products

The present study aimed to examine and compare the role of safety culture/climate and social cognitive factors on driving behaviors in a group of Turkish professional drivers transporting petroleum products. A questionnaire survey was conducted in a sample of 119 male drivers working for an oil company. The questionnaire included items related to demographic information and driving history; perceptions about the safety culture/climate of the company; fatalism; traffic risk perception; road safety attitudes; and driving behaviors. The results showed that being a truck driver compared to being a tanker driver was positively related to driving violations, while commitment to the management safety was negatively related to driving violations. On the other hand, safe attitudes towards speeding were negatively related to driving errors/lapses. Fatalism was positively related to both driving violations and errors/lapses. Also, compared to tanker drivers, truck drivers reported more violations and errors/lapses, a lower traffic risk perception and higher fatalism. Implications for the safety of professional drivers working for oil companies are discussed.     

The relationship between awareness of road safety measure and accident involvement in pre-drivers: the basis of a road safety programme

Objectives: This research aims to carry out a first validation of the QAR-Precon screening questionnaire applied in Catalonia during the drivers’ initial training, analyse the differences in risky road user behaviour according to two main variables: whether they had any experience of an accident and sex and examine the different risky road user patterns of pre-drivers. Methods: In order to group the questionnaire variables together, an exploratory factorial analysis (principal component analysis (PCA)) was used. Subsequently, the reliability coefficients of the questionnaire and the subscales were calculated. Lastly, ANOVA models were used to compare differences in the whole sample and a cluster analysis was performed to identify different risky pre-driver groups. Results: The factorial analysis (PCA) reveals the existence of five risk factors (speed and risk, external circumstances, distraction, alcohol and driving and other elements of driving) that explain 44.6% of the variance. More males than females reported that they had a higher tendency to take risks in all the risky factors exposed and injured pre-drivers reported less awareness of road safety than pre-drivers who had not been injured. A two-cluster solution indicated that it was possible to distinguish a group of pre-drivers who engaged in high risky behaviour (high group) from the group who engaged in moderate and low levels of risky road user behaviour (low group). Conclusions: The implications of these findings for programme designs and training initiatives to improve efficiency in reducing the accident rate are discussed.     

Predictors of safety behaviour among emergency responders on the highways

Safety behaviour is one of the main determinants of job-related accidents. Few studies have focused on safety behaviour of emergency responders. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the impact of psychosocial predictors on safety behaviour, taking into consideration a sample of Italian emergency responders operating on the highways (N?=?203). Results showed that adherence to safety procedures, reporting accident risk and use of individual protection devices were predicted by risk perception and safety climate. The attitude of priorities of rescue operations vs. safety predicted reporting accident risk. The conceptual and practical implications that emerged are discussed.     

Traffic risk perception,road safety attitudes,and behaviors among road users: a comparison of Turkey and Norway

The present study aims to investigate differences in road safety attitudes, driver behavior, and traffic risk perception between Turkey and Norway. A questionnaire survey was conducted among a sample of Norwegian (n?=?247) and Turkish (n?=?213) road users. The results show that Turkish respondents perceived traffic risk to be higher than Norwegian respondents. Turkish respondents reported safer attitudes towards drinking and driving than Norwegian respondents, while Norwegians reported safer attitudes towards speeding. Turkish respondents reported a lower frequency of speeding behaviors than Norwegian respondents, whereas Norwegian respondents reported a lower frequency of drinking and driving. Traffic risk perception was related to road safety attitudes and behaviors among Norwegian respondents but not among Turkish respondents. The results were discussed with respect to differences in traffic safety, traffic culture, and the development levels in Turkey and Norway.     

Consideration of Future Consequences among managers in Iran and Malaysia

Consideration of Future Consequences (CFC) is an individual differences variable that reflects how individuals view the future. CFC takes into account the intrapersonal struggle between an individual's present behaviour and the immediate and future outcomes. The main aim of this study is to examine how managers consider the consequences of their actions in two developing countries, i.e. Malaysia and Iran. Empirical data were collected via a survey questionnaire distributed to managers working in private companies in both countries. The datasets illustrates that Malaysians have a higher CFC compared to Iranians. In addition, it is also shown that Malaysians tend to view consequences from three perspectives, i.e. immediate, intermediate, and future consequences, while the Iranians look at immediate and future consequences.     

Communicating production outcomes as gains or losses,operator skill and their effects on safety-related violations in a simulated production context

In this study, violation-producing conditions from an organizational and individual point of view are investigated. In concrete terms, framing effects of production outcome displays in relation to production goals, the risk of a technical accident, as well as person-related variables and their impact on violations are investigated based on the theoretical assumptions of prospect theory and risk-taking. It is assumed that violations are more likely when performance is below the aspiration level associated with an anticipated loss. A 2?×?3 factorial experimental design (n?=?118) was selected in accordance with the ‘Asian Disease’ decision scenario in the form of a computer-simulated task environment Simulation Waste Water Treatment. Participants acted out the role of a production supervisor running a plant. Experimental conditions were (1) the framing of individual performance outcomes in relation to the production goals in terms of losses or gains, and (2) the risk (20, 35, and 5%) with which an accident (a deflagration) might occur through using a corner-cutting procedure. A significant main effect of the framing conditions and no effect of risk conditions or interaction effect emerged. An additional path analysis shows the influence of risky decision-making and acquired skills in terms of knowledge of the safety-related procedure on a violation. In summary, violations are strongly affected by (a) framing effects of production outcomes when the performance is below the aspiration level and (b) person-related variables, in particular risky decision-making and skill. Results strongly emphasize that we found violation-producing conditions over and above what has so far been proposed and give rise to our claim that communicating production outcomes as gains and the increase of skill increases the likelihood of compliance with safety-related procedures.     

Comparative optimism and risky road traffic behaviors among high‐risk sports practitioners

This study examines the relationship between participation in risky sports, comparative optimism (CO), and risky road traffic behaviors among a sample of adult men. We surveyed high‐risk (n = 313) and low‐risk (n = 53) sports practitioners, and non‐sportsmen (n = 89), assessing their CO, as well as their self‐reported risky behaviors and their accident experiences while driving a car. Results show that high‐risk sports practitioners expressed CO regarding the quality of their reflexes while driving and their vulnerability to traffic accidents. High‐risk sportsmen reported more risky behaviors while driving a car than the members of the other groups, and some of them, namely BASE‐jumpers, have experienced more traffic accidents. High‐risk sportsmen’s risky behaviors and accident experiences did not prevent them from expressing CO regarding their vulnerability to road accidents. Results are discussed, as well as putative psychological mechanisms underlying high‐risk sport practitioners’ CO and risky behaviors while driving.     

What aspects of demographic,personality, attitudes and perceptions of law enforcement influence self-reported likelihood of drink driving?

The aim of the current study was to examine the associations between a number of individual factors (demographic factors (age and gender), personality factors, risk-taking propensity, attitudes toward drink driving, and perceived legitimacy of drink driving enforcement) and how they influence the self-reported likelihood of drink driving. The second aim of this study was to examine the potential of attitudes mediating the relationship between risk-taking and self-reported likelihood of drink driving. In total, 293 Queensland drivers volunteered to participate in an online survey that assessed their self-reported likelihood to drink drive in the next month, demographics, traffic-related demographics, personality factors, risk-taking propensity, attitudes toward drink driving and perceived legitimacy of drink driving enforcement. An ordered logistic regression analysis was utilised to evaluate the first aim of the study; at the first step the demographic variables were entered; at step two the personality and risk-taking were entered; at the third step, the attitudes and perceptions of legitimacy variables were entered. Being a younger driver and having a high risk-taking propensity were related to self-reported likelihood of drink driving. However, when the attitudes variable was entered, these individual factors were no longer significant; with attitudes being the most important predictor of self-reported drink driving likelihood. A significant mediation model was found with the second aim of the study, such that attitudes mediated the relationship between risk-taking and self-reported likelihood of drink driving. Considerable effort and resources are utilised by traffic authorities to reducing drink driving on the Australian road network. Notwithstanding these efforts, some participants still had some positive attitudes toward drink driving and reported that they were likely to drink drive in the future. These findings suggest that more work is needed to address attitudes regarding the dangerousness of drink driving.     

Keeping Up with the Joneses and the Home Bias

We argue that when individuals care about their consumption relative to that of their neighbours, a home bias emerges, that is investors overweight domestic stocks in their portfolios. Domestic stocks are preferred because they also serve the objective of mimicking the economic fortunes and welfare of the investor's neighbours, countrymen, and social reference group. We also demonstrate that globalization mitigates the home bias, and derive a modified international CAPM.     

Commentary: IFRS and the Domestic Standard Setter – Is the Mourning Period Over?

The introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has changed but not lessened the roles of domestic standard setters. After a grieving period, they are now coming to realise that they have fundamental roles supporting international standard setters and ongoing roles in the public and not‐for‐profit sectors. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has focused on for‐profit reporting, and the International Public Sector Standards Board (IPSASB) is a developing standard setter in the public sector. Domestic standard setters can help fill the gaps, support the development of the international standard setters and assist at the coalface when standards are applied.     

On the Consequences of Behavioral Adaptations in the Cost–Benefit Analysis of Road Safety Measures

It is sometimes argued that road safety measures or automobile safety standards fail to save lives because safer highways or safer cars induce more dangerous driving. A similar but less extreme view is that ignoring the behavioral adaptation of drivers would bias the cost–benefit analysis of a traffic safety measure. This article derives cost–benefit rules for automobile safety regulation when drivers may adapt their risk‐taking behavior in response to changes in the quality of the road network. The focus is on the financial externalities induced by accidents because of the insurance system as well as on the consequences of drivers' risk aversion. We establish that road safety measures are Pareto improving if their monetary cost is lower than the difference between their (adjusted for risk aversion) direct welfare gain with unchanged behavior and the induced variation in insured losses due to drivers' behavioral adaptation. The article also shows how this rule can be extended to take other accident external costs into account.     

Anger mediates the effect of ostracism on risk-taking

The present research tested the effects of being ostracized on risk-taking behavior and how emotional responses to ostracism mediate these effects. In two experiments, undergraduates were either ostracized or included during an Internet ball-toss game (Cyberball). In Experiment 1 (N = 52), ostracism increased self-reported risk-taking inclinations, and the relation between ostracism and risk-taking was mediated by feelings of anger, but not control. In Experiment 2 (N = 72), ostracism increased risky driving during a driving video game. The effect of ostracism on risk-taking was again mediated by post-ostracism anger (but not control or ostracism-induced sadness). This research suggests that anger elicited by ostracism may increase risk-taking.     

Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Growth in Malaysia: Interactions with Human Capital and Financial Deepening

This paper explores the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) in economic growth in Malaysia, appropriately controlling for other proximate drivers of economic growth: domestic investment, exports, financial markets, and human capital. Domestic capital formation, FDI, human capital, and financial deepening significantly affect economic growth. FDI has a positive and significant effect on economic growth, but its effect is of lesser magnitude than that of domestic investment. Human capital and financial markets interact with FDI and, thus, are important for both short- and long-term growth processes. The results suggest that it is important to encourage domestic as well as foreign investment to put Malaysia back on its precrisis growth path.     

Airport futures: Towards a critique of the aerotropolis model

It is predicted that the twenty-first century will be dominated by air transport, both for domestic and international carriage of passengers and cargo. Thus the airport, as a driver of regional growth, is expected to become more than merely a regional gateway. Rather, it will function as city in itself, with living spaces for workers and their families, factories relying on airborne inputs and service industries located around the airport, with major road and rail infrastructure connected to it. However, the ‘aerotropolis’, as this hub for industry and driver of economic development has been called, has not yet been critiqued adequately, especially from a long-term public policy and planning perspective. This article raises concerns about three different dimensions to the aerotropolis regarding its long-term sustainability, viz., energy provision, the security of critical infrastructure and export pathways. In particular, this article argues that air transport will not replace existing components of international economic development. The authors contend that the three dimensions need to be explored in order to arrive at a more balanced view of the aerotropolis and its place in an increasingly complex global future.     

Not all high-alexithymia individuals are risk-takers: private self-consciousness moderates the relationship between alexithymia and risk-taking behaviours

This article concerns the influence which alexithymia exerts on risk-taking. In particular, alexithymia is seen as a factor which encourages risk-taking as it allows high-alexithymia individuals to feel emotions which are sufficiently intense to compensate for their deficit of emotional awareness. In this connection, we make the hypothesis that alexithymia’s influence is moderated by private self-consciousness (SC). This is because private SC increases the likelihood that high-alexithymia individuals become aware of their risk-taking tendency and that this tendency is discrepant with their pro-safety standards (‘putting someone in danger is bad’) or self-schemas (‘I am a responsible person’). Thus, private SC is likely to enable and motivate them to consciously regulate their behaviour in a safer direction. This hypothesis was empirically tested by a questionnaire amongst 372 French drivers, whose SC, alexithymia, as well as their current adoption of eight risky behaviours (with a more detailed analysis of speeding). The use of conditional process analyses reveal no main effects of alexithymia and private SC but strong interaction effects, while controlling for other predictors. More precisely, when private SC is low high-alexithymia individuals break more the speed limits and adopt more frequently risky behaviours than low-alexithymia drivers. Conversely, when private SC is high, they are less risk-prone. As practical implication, we recommend the use of techniques increasing private SC amongst high-alexithymia persons.     

International Yield Curves and Currency Puzzles

The currency depreciation rate is often computed as the ratio of foreign to domestic pricing kernels. Using bond prices alone to estimate these kernels leads to currency puzzles: the inability of models to match violations of uncovered interest parity and the volatility of exchange rates. This happens because of the FX bond disconnect, the inability of bonds to span exchange rates. Incorporating innovations to the pricing kernel that affect exchange rates but not bonds helps resolve the puzzles. This approach also allows one to relate news about cross-country differences between international yields to news about currency risk premiums.     

Insights into the reception and acceptance of risk messages: nuclear emergency communication

The objective of this paper is to test whether the effect of variables such as knowledge, attitudes, trust, risk perception, and psychometric risk characteristics changes in the different stages of risk-related information processing. To address this question, a distinction is made between two information-processing steps, reception (measured as a person’s ability to retain the information communicated) and acceptance (measured as a person’s level of agreement with the communicated information). An empirical study was conducted, using a radiological accident (2008) in Belgium as a communication case study. Face-to-face interviews were conducted on a large sample of Belgian population representative with respect to province, region, level of urbanization, gender, age, and professionally active status (N?=?1031) and among the population living in vicinity of the accident (N?=?104). All factors were measured on reliable scales (Cronbach’s α?>?.75). The reception–acceptance model was used to produce new insights into risk communication. The results demonstrate that knowledge was the driving factor only for the reception of risk messages, while heuristic predictors such as psychometric risk characteristics, attitudes, and trust were most influential for the acceptance of risk messages. It is discussed how the results will facilitate a more thorough understanding of information processing and how they could be used to design more focused risk communication strategies.     

The Role of Short‐Termism in Financial Market Crises

The purpose of this paper is to examine the contribution short‐termist behaviours have had in various financial market crises. The early warning signs and drivers of short‐termism are investigated, as well as ways to mitigate short‐termist behaviour and consequences in the future. Short‐termism as defined for the purposes of this paper is the excessive focus on short‐term performance, earnings and other metrics at the expense of attention being given to the development of a long‐term strategy that promotes sustainable long‐term value creation.