Travel Survey Components
Attitudes and Personalities
October 31, 2006
Why are we concerned about
attitudes and personalities?
• The attitude of a person towards a object gives
us an idea of their predisposition or likelihood of
choosing a particular outcome when given a
choice (ex. Negative attitude towards leisure car
rides reduces the likelihood that one would go
on a Sunday drive)
• The personality of a person gives insight of both
their attitude of objects, and their current
behaviors
What’s the point for this survey
• We want to take a look at people’s travel
behavior (from the activity diary), and
examine the correlation between their
behavior and personalities/ attitudes
towards sustainable transportation
How are we going to do that?
• Travel behavior from activity diary (Time
Use or DRM 24 hour diary)
• Demographic information about person
• Attitudes and Personality information of
respondent
How do we get personality
information???
• Determine personality characteristics that
you think are important to the subject of
your study.
• Ask questions geared toward determining
the respondents personality
Example 1
• From “On Altruists and Egoists in Activity
Participation and Travel: who are they and
do they live together?”—Goulias and
Hanson
Study Question
• Is there a link to social role and patterns of
altruistic behavior?
• What is the intensity of self serving behavior
and intensity of altruistic behavior, and who its
for?
Procedure- Person level analysis
• Used CentreSim data (with whom questions)
• Using 16 variables of travel behavior and latent
cluster analysis, 11 distinct patterns of travel
patterns and activity are identified.
Procedure- person level analysis
• These clusters were then linked to social
role of the person
• Demographic predictors were also
determined. These variables include age,
gender, education, employment, marital
status
Results- person level analysis
• The clusters of travel behaviors existed
when the analysis was expanded to the
social role of the person.
• Significant travel behavior differences
were found between married and
unmarried persons who are full time
employed
Results- person level analysis
Social role and cluster membership.
Example 2
• From “Toward a Model of Risky Driving
Using Objective Measures of Driving
Behavior” –Kostyniuk and Eby
Procedure
• Gave instrumented vehicles out to sample of
population to drive for one week. Gathered data
on driving behavior using radar sensors (pointed
towards the front and sides of the vehicle, and
video cameras (pointed towards the drivers face)
• Examined personality traits of sensation seeking,
perception of risk, locus of control and cooperation
• Studied the correlation between the respondents
score on personality questions with their
“naturalistic driving data” of risky driving (i.e.
following too closely, speeding, lack of seat belt
use, and cell phone use
Procedure
• Used Poisson logistic regression to
determine the rate of the four measured
risky driving behaviors as a function of the
respondent’s personality traits, age and
sex
Results
• Study found significant positive correlation
between:
– Not Using a Safety belt- self reported risky
driving behavior, locus of control
– Following too closely- sensation seeking,
self reported risky driving behavior
– Exceeding the speed limit by 15mphcooperation/ competition, self reported
frequency of risky driving, perception of risk,
age
Example 3
• From “The Relationship of Vehicle Type
Choice to Personality, Lifestyle, Attitudinal
and Demographic Variables” –Choo and
Mokhtarian
Study Question
• What are the factors that influence a
consumers’ car buying behaviors?
Procedure
• People’s travel attitude, personality, lifestyle, and
mobility factors were examined to determine
how they affect individuals vehicle type choice
• Survey asked questions about objective and
perceived mobility, attitude toward travel,
lifestyle, personality, desired mobility, travel
liking, and demographics
• Dominant vehicles were grouped into types (i.e.
compact, midsize, truck, minivan, SUV etc.) and
the above were used as explanatory variables
Procedure- personalities
• Personality attributed include
– organizer (efficient, on time, like a routine),
– calm (patient, less aggressive, restless, don’t
like being in charge),
– adventure seeker (adventurous, variety
seeking, spontaneous, risk taker, ambitious),
– sociability (like being alone, independent)
Procedure- attitudes
• Attitudes included
– travel dislike (travel is boring, travel time is wasted time, the only
good thing about travel is arriving at your destination)
– pro high-density development (I like living in a neighborhood where
there is a lot going on, having shops and services within walking
distance of my home is important, living in a multiple family unit would
not give me enough privacy)
– pro environmental solutions (to improve air quality, I am willing to
pay a little more for a clean fuel vehicle, we need more public
transportation even if taxes have to pay for it, we should raise the
price of gasoline to reduce congestion and air pollution)
– travel stress (similar to travel dislike but focuses on particular
sources of anxiety… I worry about my safety when I travel, traveling
makes me nervous, I tend to get sick when I travel)
– commute benefit (my commute is a real hassle, my commute trip is
a useful transition between home and work, I use my commute time
productively)
Results
• Stronger pro density attitude= more likely to
drive small or compact vehicles
• Workaholics and those who don’t enjoy personal
travel= less likely to drive small vehicles
• Those who perceive they have a lot of long
distance travel= less likely to own compact
vehicles
• Those who have stronger travel dislike, pro highdensity attitudes, tend to be status seekers, or
are not generally frustrated= more likely to drive
luxery cars
Example 4
• From “Associations of Personality
Characteristics with Transport Behavior ad
Residence Location Decisions”
–Prevedouros
Study Question
• This study investigated the “potential
associations between personality and
individual travel behavior characteristics”
• Three dimensions of personality were
examined: social introversion/extroversion,
affinity for suburban living, and affinity for
material possessions
After the data collection…
• Factor analysis was used to group the
statements into factors and determine
appropriate weights
Procedure
•Used the 17 attitudinal
statements to get 3
personality factors
•The respondents were
then clustered into
personality types
(different combinations of
the factors)
Results
The resulting clusters of personality types were then used to
look at peoples residence locations, auto ownership and
travel habits (number of trips taken, etc).
Results
The analysis found that
• Socially extroverted
people tend to make
more trips, more nonwork
trips and travel longer
distances by car for
nonwork trips.
• Materialistic people tend
to spend a larger portion
of their income on cars.
• People who have an
affinity for suburban living
tend to reside in
outerring, low density
suburbs.
Personality Tests
• Online resources to help phrase questions
– http://similarminds.com/personality_tests.html
– http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgiwin/JTypes2.asp
– http://www.personalitypathways.com/MBTI_int
ro.html
Personality Questions
• I My fate was sealed at birth. -Locus of Control
• Many times I feel that I have little influence over
the things that happen to me.- Locus of Control
• As a rule, current preoccupations worry
you more than your future plans –Future
minded/ planner
• You feel at ease in a crowd –Sociability
• You are consistent in your habits –Varibility in
habits
• A thirst for adventure is close to your heart –
adventure seeker
Attitude Questions
• Attitude toward governmental regulation of vehicle
emissions
– Agree or disagree- “The impact that vehicles are making on the
environment is not something to worry about”
• Attitude toward environmental altruism
– Recycling is helpful for the environment
– I am willing to donate 5$ when purchasing my parking permit to
enable someone else to commute by bus or train
• Attitude toward traveling… does it elicit a positive or
negative attitude?
– I think traveling is a waste of time
– I don’t like spending time in my car
Brainstorming
• What are possible personality traits that
would be correlated to a person’s travel
behavior?
• What are possible attitudes that would
correlate to one’s travel behavior?