Who uses a mobile phone while driving for food delivery? The role of personality, risk perception, and driving self-efficacy

• Published in: Journal of safety research 2020-06, Vol.73, p.69-80
• Main Authors: Zhang, Yanbo, Huang, Yangsen, Wang, Yibao, Casey, Tristan W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Cell Phone Use - statistics & numerical data; Cell phones; Cellular telephones; China; Demographics; Demography; Distracted Driving - psychology; Driving self-efficacy; Female; Food; Food Handling - methods; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Mobile phone use while driving; Multivariate statistical analysis; Perception; Personality; Personality traits; Risk Assessment; Risk perception; Risk taking; Self Efficacy; Structural equation modeling; Young Adult; Young adults
• ISSN: 0022-4375; 1879-1247
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jsr.2020.02.014

•This is the first study to focus on mobile phone use while driving among food deliverymen.•Food deliverymen surveyed frequently engages in mobile phone use while driving for their work.•Personality traits influence MPUWD behaviors both directly and indirectly.•Risk perception influences MPUWD behaviors indirectly.•The mediating role of driving self-efficacy is identified. Introduction: The existing literature on mobile phone use while driving (MPUWD) mainly targets the participants from general population and the young adults, however, few studies pay attention to this form of distracted driving with samples in professional contexts. The present study aims to bridge the gap by identifying the extent of and the motives behind making use of mobile phones while driving for food dispatch among deliveryman. Method: The snowball sampling was used to collect the data (N = 317) through a self-reported questionnaire, including demographics, personality traits, risk perception, driving self-efficacy, and mobile phone use while driving. Results: Descriptive analysis for the assessed MPUWD behaviors showed that 96.3% (N = 315) of food deliveryman undertook the MPUWD behaviors, though disproportionate distribution among these behaviors existed. Structural equation modeling analysis displayed that psychoticism and driving self-efficacy directly predicted the MPUWD behaviors. The mediating role of driving self-efficacy was verified with the findings that driving self-efficacy completely mediated the relationships that between risk perception and MPUWD behaviors and that between extraversion and MPUWD behaviors, as well as partially mediated the correlation between psychoticism and MPUWD behaviors. Conclusions: The present study confirms the prevalence of MPUWD behaviors among food deliveryman. The SEM estimates and bootstrap estimates suggest that personality traits and perceived risk perception per se display limited predicting utility to MPUWD behaviors among food deliveryman, whereas driving self-efficacy and the proposed predictors together well illustrate the assessed MPUWD behaviors among food deliveryman. Practical Applications: These findings imply that developing and implementing intervention efforts in a concerted way would curb these behaviors effectively.