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Moral judgment and drivers' behavior among Brazilian students
Alessandra Bianchi1, Heikki Summala
1University of Helsinki, Department of Psychology, Finland. bianchi@acm.org
Psychological Reports
|January 18, 2003
Summary
This study explored the link between moral judgment and traffic law violations in university students. No significant associations were found, possibly due to limited moral judgment variation in the sample.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Traffic Safety
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Lifestyle, social deviance, and criminal history are known risk factors for road accidents.
- Understanding the psychological underpinnings of driving behavior, particularly intentional traffic law violations, is crucial for accident prevention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between moral judgment and driving behavior, focusing on deliberate traffic law violations.
- To introduce and validate a Portuguese version of the Driver Behavior Questionnaire.
Main Methods:
- 260 university students (aged 18-30) completed the Sociomoral Reflection Measure and the Driver Behavior Questionnaire.
- A Portuguese adaptation of the Driver Behavior Questionnaire was developed and its factor structure analyzed.
Main Results:
- No significant associations were identified between moral judgment scores and driving behavior.
- The Portuguese Driver Behavior Questionnaire demonstrated a four-factor structure (ordinary violations, aggressive violations, errors, lapses), consistent with the British version.
Conclusions:
- The study did not find a direct link between moral judgment and traffic law violations in this student sample.
- The limited variance in moral judgment scores may have influenced the results.
- The validated Portuguese Driver Behavior Questionnaire is a useful tool for assessing driving behaviors.