The effects of personality and gender on risky driving behaviour and accident involvement

The present study investigates the effects of personality traits and gender on risky driving behaviour and accident involvement. A sample of Norwegian adolescents in two Norwegian counties participated (n = 1356). Anxiety was significantly correlated to excitement-seeking and risky driving behaviour, and excitement-seeking was significantly correlated to risky driving behaviour and collisions. Through a regression analysis, personality traits and gender were found to explain 37.3% of the variance in risky driving behaviour. However, the relations were not very strong, and the personality traits did only explain a moderate part of the variance. Possible explanations for this as well as methodological considerations are discussed. Directions for further research are suggested.