Cognitive Biases, Risk Perception, and Risky Driving Behaviour

Cornelia Măirean, Grigore M. Havârneanu, Danijela Barić and Corneliu Havârneanu
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Cornelia Măirean: GLADE-Virtual Institute for Good Health and Well-Being, EC2U Project-European Campus of City, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, 700554 Iasi, Romania
Grigore M. Havârneanu: International Union of Railways (UIC), 75015 Paris, France
Danijela Barić: Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Corneliu Havârneanu: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, 700554 Iasi, Romania

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: This study evaluated the relationship between drivers’ cognitive biases (i.e., optimism bias, illusion of control) and risky driving behaviour. It also investigated the mediational role of risk perception in the relationship between cognitive biases and self-reported risky driving. The sample included 366 drivers (Mage = 39.13, SD = 13.63 years) who completed scales measuring optimism bias, illusion of control, risk perception, and risky driving behaviour, as well as demographic information. The results showed that risky driving behaviour was negatively predicted by optimism bias and positively predicted by the illusion of control. Further, risk perception negatively correlated with risky behaviour and also mediated the relation between both optimism bias and illusion of control with risky driving. The practical implications of these results for traffic safety and future research are discussed.

Keywords: optimism bias; illusion of control; risk perception; risky behaviour (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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