Velocity versus safety: Impact of goal conflict and task difficulty on drivers’ behaviour, feelings of anxiety, and electrodermal responses

This paper proposes a goal conflict model that links drivers’ conflicting motivations for fast and safe driving with an emotional state of anxiety. It is proposed that this linkage is mediated by a behavioural inhibition system (Gray & McNaughton, 2000) affecting drivers’ mood, physiological responses and choice of speed. The model was tested with 24 male participants, each of whom undertook 18 runs of a simple driving simulation. On each run, the goal conflict was induced by time pressure and the advance warning of a possible encounter with a deer. The conflict’s intensity varied depending on the magnitude of the equally-sized gain and loss assigned to early arrival and collision respectively. Results show that the larger the conflict, the more slowly the participants drove. In addition, they rated themselves as being more anxious, attentive, and aroused. An increase in task difficulty induced by low visibility resulted in an additional speed reduction and increase in self-reported anxiety but did not lead to a further increase in self-assessed attention and arousal. Overall, the number of electrodermal responses depended neither on conflict nor on task difficulty, but increased linearly with conflict during low visibility. Implications for the incorporation of goal conflict into theories on driving behaviour and conclusions for traffic safety policies are discussed.

► Drivers chose a lower speed the higher their conflict between velocity and safety.
► Self-reported anxiety, attention and arousal increase with drivers’ goal conflict.
► Task difficulty causes speed reduction and increased self-reported anxiety.
► The effects of goal conflict and task difficulty do not interact.