The role of affective processes on young drivers’ risk perceptions: a dual process model approach

Abstract

Young adults continue to be over-represented in injury and death statistics associated with transport-related crashes. The current paper investigates the application of the dual process model of risky judgement to the processing of transport-related risky behaviours. One hundred Australian participants completed an online survey exploring four transport-related risky situations. Participants were assessed on their cognitive and affective evaluations of the risky situations as well as their self-reported likelihood of participation in them. The findings indicate that perceptions of risk for specific transport-related behaviours are not processed in a consistent manner. Predictive factors, including gender, affective and cognitive processing, as well as the subsequent self-reported likelihood of engaging in the behaviours, varied between situations. The research indicates that driver interventions may need to be individually targeted to specific transport-related risky behaviours to compensate for the variation in predictive factors