Role of Habits in Cell Phone-Related Driver Distractions

Hansma, Braden Joseph; Marulanda, Susana; Chen, Huei-Yen Winnie; Donmez, Birsen · 2020 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1177/0361198120953157

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Summary

This study investigates the role of habitual cell phone use in predicting driver engagement in illegal cell phone distractions while driving. While previous research has utilized the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to explain voluntary engagement in distracted driving, this work addresses the gap regarding automatic, habit-driven behaviors. The authors posit that ubiquitous cell phone use may lead to automatic engagement with devices behind the wheel, independent of deliberate intention. The study expands on prior work limited to texting by examining a broader range of visual-manual distractions, including social media updates, email, and navigation app usage, within a diverse adult population. The researchers conducted an online survey with 218 respondents recruited from Toronto, Canada. Participants reported their frequency of engagement in seven specific illegal cell phone tasks over the past year, alongside measures of TPB constructs: attitudes, self-efficacy, perceived control, injunctive norms, and descriptive norms. Habitual cell phone use was assessed using the Self-Report Habit Index (SRHI), measuring the automaticity of general cell phone behaviors such as checking notifications and answering calls, rather than driving-specific habits. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and hierarchical multiple linear regression to determine the unique variance explained by habits after controlling for TPB factors. Results indicated that self-reported engagement in cell phone distractions was generally low, averaging "rarely," with the 26–35 age group reporting the highest frequency. Attitudes and self-efficacy showed the strongest correlations with engagement frequency. The hierarchical regression model revealed that TPB constructs alone accounted for 50% of the variance in self-reported engagement. Adding habitual cell phone use to the model significantly increased the explained variance by 3% ($\Delta R^2 = .03$), confirming that habits predict engagement independently of volitional factors. In the final model, attitudes remained the strongest predictor, followed by perceived control, self-efficacy, and habits. Descriptive and injunctive norms were not significant predictors. The findings suggest that cell phone-related distractions are not entirely voluntary; habits formed outside the driving context significantly influence behavior behind the wheel. This implies that public safety campaigns focusing solely on changing attitudes or perceived norms may be insufficient. Instead, interventions should address the automatic nature of cell phone use, potentially by promoting features like "Do Not Disturb" modes that remove situational cues triggering habitual responses. The study highlights the need for future research to validate these psychological predictors against actual driving behavior using naturalistic studies, as self-report data may be subject to social desirability bias.

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Topics

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• mobile phones
• temporal
• distraction laws
• distraction detection algorithms
• manual
• visual

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• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence
• Theoretical Contribution: theory or model, conceptual framework