Texting while driving: Psychosocial influences on young people's texting intentions and behaviour

Nemme, Heidi E.; White, Katherine M. · 2010 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2010.01.019

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Summary

This study investigates the psychosocial factors influencing young Australian drivers’ intentions and actual behaviors regarding texting while driving. Motivated by the high prevalence of this dangerous and illegal behavior among young adults, the researchers aimed to determine if an extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) could effectively predict these actions. Specifically, the study examined whether adding group norms and moral norms to the standard TPB variables (attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control) improved prediction accuracy. The research distinguished between sending and reading text messages to identify potential differences in the psychological drivers of each behavior. The study employed a prospective design with 169 university students aged 17 to 24 who held driver’s licenses and owned mobile phones. Data collection occurred in two phases one week apart. In the first phase, participants completed questionnaires measuring TPB constructs, group norms (perceptions of friends’ behaviors and attitudes), moral norms (personal beliefs about the wrongness of the behavior), and past behavior. One week later, participants reported the actual number of texts sent and read while driving during that period. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to predict intentions and subsequent behaviors for both sending and reading texts, controlling for gender and past behavior. The results indicated that the extended TPB model accounted for approximately 50% of the variance in intentions for both sending and reading texts. Attitude was a significant predictor of intentions for both behaviors. However, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control significantly predicted intentions to send texts but not to read them. Crucially, the addition of group norm and moral norm significantly improved the prediction of intentions for both behaviors. Regarding actual behavior, intention and moral norm were significant predictors for both sending and reading texts, while perceived behavioral control was not. Past behavior also significantly predicted subsequent texting behavior. Notably, participants reported more positive attitudes and higher intentions for reading texts compared to sending them, though moral concerns were slightly lower for reading. The findings support the utility of the TPB in understanding texting while driving, particularly when augmented with group and moral norms. The study concludes that social influences, specifically peer group expectations and personal moral standards, play a critical role in young drivers’ decisions to text while driving. These results suggest that interventions aimed at reducing this risky behavior should adopt a multi-strategy approach that addresses not only individual attitudes and perceived control but also the social and moral contexts in which young drivers operate.

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• passenger effects
• mobile phones

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• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence
• Theoretical Contribution: theory or model