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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Drivers’ Age, Gender, Driving Experience, and Aggressiveness as Predictors of Aggressive Driving Behaviour

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ABSTRACT Recent years have seen a growing interest in the problem of aggressive driving. In the present study two demographic variables (gender and age), two non-psychological driving-experience related variables (annual mileage and legal driving experience in years) and aggressiveness as a personality trait (including behavioural and affective components) as psychological variable of individual differences were examined as potential predictors of aggressive driving. The aim of the study was to find out the best predictors of aggressive driving behaviour. The study was based on an online survey, and 228 vehicle drivers in Latvia participated in it. The questionnaire included eight-item Aggressive Driving Scale (Bone & Mowen, 2006), short Latvian version of the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (AQ; Buss & Perry, 1992), and questions gaining demographic and driving experience information. Gender, age and annual mileage predicted aggressive driving: being male, young and with higher annual driving exposure were associated with higher scores on aggressive driving. Dispositional aggressiveness due to anger component was a significant predictor of aggressive diving score. Physical aggression and hostility were unrelated to aggressive driving. Altogether, the predictors explained a total of 28% of the variance in aggressive driving behaviour. Findings show that dispositional aggressiveness, especially the anger component, as well as male gender, young age and higher annual mileage has a predictive validity in relation to aggressive driving. There is a need to extend the scope of potential dispositional predictors pertinent to driving aggression.