Psychological Constructs Related to Seat Belt Use, Volume 2: Results Report

Sheveland, Anna C; Luchman, Joseph N; Xie, Jingyuan; Bleiberg, Melissa A; Eby, David W; Molnar, Lisa J; Walton, Bill R · 2020 · ROSA P / United States. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Office of Behavioral Safety Research

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Summary

This study addresses the plateau in U.S. seat belt usage rates by investigating psychological mechanisms that explain variance in seat belt use beyond demographic correlates. While demographic factors like age and gender are known predictors, the evidence base regarding psychological influences remains limited. The research aimed to identify specific psychological constructs associated with full-time seat belt use and determine whether these constructs mediate observed demographic differences. The researchers administered the Psychological Constructs Related to Seat Belt Use (PCRSBU) survey in June 2018 to a nationally representative sample of 6,038 U.S. residents aged 16 and older via GfK’s KnowledgePanel. The study examined 18 psychological constructs, including impulsivity, risk perception, and delay of gratification. Seat belt use was operationalized using three metrics: a primary binary indicator, an adjusted binary indicator accounting for situational consistency, and a semi-continuous scale. Analyses employed multimodel inference and mediation models adjusted for complex sampling designs to assess predictors and mediating effects. Results indicated that 75.56% of the population reported always wearing seat belts on the primary metric, dropping to 52.22% when situational consistency was considered. The most endorsed reasons for use were avoiding injury, habit, and legal compliance, while short distance, forgetting, and discomfort were primary reasons for non-use. Psychologically, higher scores in delay of gratification, life satisfaction, risk aversion, risk perception, loneliness, and resistance to peer influence predicted increased seat belt use. Conversely, higher impulsivity and social resistance orientation predicted decreased use. Mediation analyses revealed that psychological constructs such as religiosity, risk aversion, and sensation-seeking fully explained the direct effects of age, gender, and one regional difference on seat belt use, suggesting these demographic disparities are driven by underlying psychological traits. However, marital status and other regional differences retained significant direct effects. Additionally, situational factors like riding in a taxi or back seat significantly reduced usage likelihood. The findings imply that psychological and psychosocial factors underlie many demographic disparities in seat belt use. By identifying specific traits like impulsivity and low risk perception as predictors of non-use, the study provides a basis for developing targeted countermeasures. Interventions can be designed to address these psychological mechanisms rather than relying solely on demographic profiling, potentially improving safety outcomes for high-risk populations.

Key finding

Psychological constructs such as impulsivity, risk aversion, and social resistance fully mediated the effects of age, gender, and regional differences on seat belt use.

Methodology

survey

Sample size: 6038

Provenance

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• seat belt use
• child passenger safety

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence