Self-reported engagement in driver distraction: An application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour

Driver distraction is a significant concern for roadway safety. As drivers often engage willingly in secondary tasks, it is crucial to understand the social-psychological factors underlying these behaviours. A useful framework for understanding these factors is the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). This paper investigates the efficacy of TPB in predicting self-reported engagement behaviour in a number of distraction tasks through the assessment of attitudes, perceived behavioural control, descriptive norms, and injunctive norms. This work also investigates the relation of self-reported distraction engagement with personality traits and other unsafe driving behaviours. Data collection utilised the Susceptibility to Driver Distraction Questionnaire (SDDQ), which was built with TPB as the framework, as well as the Manchester Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ) and various personality questionnaires. A total of 578 drivers, both genders, ages 18+, were surveyed. Self-reported distraction engagement was associated with impulsive, venturesome, and sensation seeking personalities, and with reportedly higher level of unsafe driving behaviours. Further, attitudes, perceived behavioural control, and descriptive norms were found to be significant predictors of self-reported engagement after controlling for age group and gender. Injunctive norms, which describe the perceived expectations of what the driver ought to do, were not significant. Gender was not significant in predicting engagement, but older drivers (60+) reported a marginally lower level of engagement than drivers between the ages of 26 and 39. Our findings demonstrate the usefulness of TPB for analysing self-reported distraction engagement, and suggest that drivers may be more heavily influenced by what other drivers do on the road, rather than what they perceive they ought to do, when it comes to engaging in distractions.