Effects of Driver Cell-Phone Use on Driver Aggression

Using 2 field procedures, the authors assessed impacts of cell-phone use on mild forms of driver aggression. Participants were 135 drivers traveling within a city of approximately 17,000 people in an otherwise little-populated region of western North Dakota. The authors videotaped the participants w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of social psychology 2006-04, Vol.146 (2), p.133-146
Main Authors: McGarva, Andrew R., Ramsey, Matthew, Shear, Suzannah A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aggression
Aggression - psychology
Aggressiveness
Automobile drivers
Automobile Driving - psychology
Behavior. Attitude
Biological and medical sciences
Cell Phone
Cellular telephones
Communication
driver behavior
Ethics
Experiments
Female
field research
Field study
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gender
gender difference
Gender differences
Gender Discrimination
Humans
Male
Mobile phones
North Dakota
Predictor Variables
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Research methods
Researchers
Road rage
Road traffic
Road transport
Roads & highways
Social psychology
Telephone
Traffic accidents & safety
Traffic congestion
U.S.A
Urban traffic
Videotape Recording
Violence
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Summary:Using 2 field procedures, the authors assessed impacts of cell-phone use on mild forms of driver aggression. Participants were 135 drivers traveling within a city of approximately 17,000 people in an otherwise little-populated region of western North Dakota. The authors videotaped the participants while a confederate driver in a low-status vehicle frustrated them. In Experiment 1, the confederate was traveling well under the posted speed limit. In Experiment 2, the confederate remained motionless at a stoplight that had turned green. When the confederate visibly talked on a hand-held cell phone (n = 67), male drivers exhibited their frustration by honking their horn more quickly and frequently than did drivers in no-cell-phone trials, and female drivers were more angry according to blind judgments of videotaped facial expressions that were compared with those of drivers in no-cell-phone trials (n = 68). The present results suggested that driver cell-phone use contributes to the growing crisis of roadway aggression.
ISSN:0022-4545
1940-1183
DOI:10.3200/SOCP.146.2.133-146