Measuring situations that stress Mexicans while driving

• This paper is about developing an instrument that will help assessing stress in individuals that operate a motor vehicle.
• The scale that was developed through this study could be used in further studies on drivers in México.
• It is found that the respect people have towards norms and other forms of social interaction are important elements that determine in stress and traffic.
• These findings are key in the promotion of policies that increase social well-being, effective circulation, and reduction of traffic jams.

The purpose of this paper is to construct a scale that will help determine the aspects involved in driving a motor vehicle that influence the levels of stress in a human being. Two complementary studies were conducted: the first one determined, by qualitative methods, the aspects of driving that 103 participants found most stressful whilst driving; the second was a validation of the scale constructed with said information on 295 participants (142 males, 153 females, age mean 37.41, std. dev. 14.008). The scale included 22 situations that were then evaluated on a Likert scale to assess the level of stress they evoke. These items were arranged on 3 factors, and descriptive statistics were computed for significantly stressful situations. The 5 largest differences found in the group were: (1) People that drive violently, (2) Corrupt Policemen, (3) Driving on roads in bad state, (4) People that cut in line, and (5) Arrogant Policemen. Main findings include: violent drivers and a lack of respect for social rules are the most stressful elements of the context in which drivers are immersed, and no differences in stress levels across sex or age groups were found.