The link between Happiness
and Safe Driving Behaviour
Robert B. Isler
and Samantha A.
Newland
School of Psychology
University of Waikato
Video
People drive the way they live.
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Driver violations intentions
predict risky driving behaviour
leading to crashes.
to crashes:
Driver Behaviour Questionnaire:
In the future how often would you expect to do each
of the following?
Never - 0 Certain - 4
1. Speed over the legal limit
2. Be angry about a bad driver
3. Deliberately violate a road rule
4. Cut off other drivers
5. … etc.,
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People drive the way they live.
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Are flourishing people low-risk
drivers?
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Mental Health
Mental
Disorder
Languishing
Moderate
Mental Health
Flourishing
Three Orientations to Happiness
and Life Satisfaction
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First Pathway to Happiness:
Pleasure
PLEASURE:
Hedonic definition of well-being:
More experienced pleasure is equivalent
to higher well-being.
e.g.,
- Life is too short to postpone the pleasure it can provide
- I go out of my way to feel euphoric
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Second Pathway to
Happiness: Meaning
MEANING:
Finding meaning in one’s life is
an important determinant of psychological
well-being.
e.g.,
- I have a responsibility to make the world
a better place
- What I do matters to the society
1 = Strongly disagree ……. 5 = Strongly agree
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Third Pathway to Happiness:
Engagement
ENGAGEMENT:
Well-being through engaging in activities
that are engrossing and absorbingcreating flow feelings.
e.g.,
- I am always very absorbed in what I do
- Regardless what I am doing, time passes quickly.
1 = Strongly disagree ……. 5 = Strongly agree
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Questionnaire
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2.
3.
4.
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Demographics: Age, Gender, Licence type, Mileage
Driving History: Fines, Near Misses and Crashes (Incidences)
Driver Behaviour Questionnaire: Driver Violations Intentions (20 Questions)
Three Dimensions of Well-being: Pleasure, Engagement, Meaning (18 Questions)
Sample
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160 first, second and third year students
Age range: 17 - 48 years; Mean: 24 years
17-25 years (N=140); >25 years (N=20)
116 females, 44 males
Incidences and mileage, by Groups
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Pleasure, Meaning and Engagement,
by Groups
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r = -0.6719, p < 0.01, R2 = 0.45
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r = -0.5850, p < 0.01, R2 = 0.34
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r = 0.3163, p < 0.01, R2 = 0.1
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r = -0.532, p < 0.01, R2 = 0.28
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Maladaptive coping strategies
People engage in maladaptive coping strategies
in order to cope with psychological issues by doing too much of something – or not enough e.g.,:
Starving
Driving too slowly
Insomnia (Fatigue)
Procrastination
Abstinence
Bored
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-------------------------------------------------------
Indulging
Driving too fast
Oversleeping
Workaholic
Drink-Driving
Stress
Conclusions
• The happiness dimensions of meaning and
engagement strongly relate to low-risk driving behaviour
• The happiness dimension of pleasure may predict
risky driving - possibly relating to sensation and
thrill seeking
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