Personality traits as behavioral determinants of road traffic injury risk: a mechanism-informed cross-sectional analysis.
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1842790
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Summary
This study investigates the association between Big Five personality traits and the risk of road traffic injuries (RTIs), addressing a gap in literature that has historically focused on environmental and infrastructural determinants rather than individual behavioral predispositions. The authors hypothesize that personality traits influence RTI risk through specific neurocognitive and behavioral mechanisms, such as emotional regulation, attention control, and decision-making. The research aims to integrate these individual factors into a broader understanding of RTI epidemiology, particularly within the Malaysian context. The researchers conducted a hospital-based cross-sectional study using a case–control design at two tertiary centers in Kelantan, Malaysia, between January and October 2021. The study included 425 participants aged 18–60 years: 229 cases with RTIs recruited from emergency departments and 196 controls randomly selected from outpatient populations. Participants were excluded if they had severe injuries (Abbreviated Injury Scale scores >2), known psychiatric illnesses, or were illiterate, to ensure reliable questionnaire responses. Personality traits were assessed using the validated Bahasa Malaysia version of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R). Data were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression to evaluate associations between personality traits and RTI status, adjusting for confounders including age, sex, and socioeconomic status. The results indicated a marked male predominance in the RTI group. While the overall distribution of personality traits was comparable between groups, adjusted analyses revealed significant associations for two specific traits. Higher levels of agreeableness were associated with an increased risk of RTIs (Odds Ratio [OR] 1.12, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.03–1.21), and higher neuroticism was also linked to increased risk (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.03–1.18). No significant associations were found for conscientiousness, extraversion, or openness. The study notes that while the per-unit effect sizes are modest, they may have significant population-level impacts due to the continuous distribution of these traits. The authors conclude that personality traits, specifically neuroticism and agreeableness, contribute to RTI risk through behavioral mechanisms. Neuroticism may increase vulnerability via stress-induced attention disruption and impaired executive control, while agreeableness may lead to delayed or suboptimal decision-making in dynamic traffic environments due to reduced assertiveness or heightened responsiveness to social cues. These findings support an integrated model of RTI risk that combines behavioral predispositions with environmental factors. The study suggests that incorporating psychological profiling into road safety strategies could enhance prevention efforts, though it acknowledges limitations regarding causal inference due to the cross-sectional design and the need for future prospective studies to validate these mechanistic pathways.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | PubMed Central | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-19 |
| archive | success | unpaywall | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-26 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-26 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| enrich | success | openalex | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-19 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-20 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified.
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- Empirical Findings: crash risk outcomes