Psychological predictors of risky driving: the role of age, gender, personality traits (Zuckerman's and Gray's models)
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1058927
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Summary
This study investigates the simultaneous role of age, gender, personality traits (based on Zuckerman’s and Gray’s psychobiological models), and decision-making styles in predicting risky driving behaviors. The research addresses the gap in literature where these variables have typically been examined in isolation rather than together. The motivation stems from the significant public health burden of traffic accidents, which are the leading cause of death for young adults, and the need to identify specific psychological profiles associated with dangerous driving to inform prevention strategies. The study employed a cross-sectional design with a sample of 991 habitual drivers (538 men, 453 women; mean age ~45 years) recruited from the general community in Spain. Participants completed the Zuckerman-Kuhlman-Aluja Personality Questionnaire (ZKA-PQ/SF) to assess Aggressiveness, Activity, Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Sensation Seeking; the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ-20) to measure Gray’s traits; the General Decision-Making Styles (GDMS) scale; and the Manchester Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) to measure Lapses, Errors, Ordinary Violations, and Aggressive Violations. Data analysis included ANOVA, zero-order correlations, empirical network analysis, principal component analysis, and multiple linear regression models computed separately for men and women. Results indicated that younger drivers reported significantly more Lapses, Ordinary Violations, and Aggressive Violations than older drivers. Gender differences were observed, with women reporting more Lapses (d = −0.40) and men reporting more Ordinary (d = 0.33) and Aggressive Violations (d = 0.28). Personality traits and decision-making styles were significant predictors of risky driving. Specifically, Aggressiveness, Sensitivity to Reward, and Sensation Seeking emerged as the primary personality predictors. Regarding decision-making styles, the Spontaneous and Rational styles accounted for significant variance in risky driving behaviors, with the Rational style generally associated with fewer violations. These patterns were broadly replicated across both genders. The study found that violations, particularly aggressive ones, are intentional behaviors linked to excitatory motives, whereas lapses and errors are unintentional and linked to attentional deficits. The significance of these findings lies in the integration of multiple psychological domains to create a comprehensive profile of the risky driver. The study confirms that Zuckerman’s Alternative Five Factor Model and Gray’s Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory offer robust predictive power for driving risk, outperforming or complementing traditional models. The identification of specific decision-making styles, such as the Spontaneous style, as risk factors suggests that interventions targeting cognitive processing and impulse control could be effective in reducing traffic violations. The findings support the development of targeted safety programs that address not just demographic risk factors like age and gender, but also modifiable psychological traits and cognitive styles.
Provenance
The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via scout_discovery on 2026-05-08 (2 acquisition events logged).
| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | partial | scout | — | — | 2 | 2026-05-08 |
| archive | success | canonical_url | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-22 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 3 | 2026-08-23 |
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| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| enrich | success | semantic_scholar | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-04 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.8-27b-gittensor | summ-v5 | 2 | 2026-08-23 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 15 | 2026-06-11 |
Summary generated by qwen3.8-27b-gittensor on 2026-08-23; verification: pending re-verification.
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