Abstract
The relation between time perspective and risky behaviors has been well documented in previous studies, although less is known about the relation between time perspective and risky driving. The aim of this present study is to assess the link among time perspectives (i.e., past positive, past negative, present fatalist, present hedonistic, future), risk perception in traffic, and risky driving behaviors. A sample of 263 drivers (Mage = 29.04, SD = 11.13) participated in this study and completed scales that measure time perspective, risk perception, risky driving, and a demographic questionnaire. The participants reporting higher levels of past negative and present fatalistic time perspectives also reported higher risky driving behaviors, and those with high level of future time perspective indicated low risky driving behavior. Further, the participants with higher levels of future time perspective reported higher scores on risk perception. Furthermore, risk perception mediated the relation of past negative and future time perspectives with risky driving behavior. The results are discussed from the perspective of their theoretical and practical implications for road traffic safety.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behaviour. Prentice Hall.
Apostolidis, T., Fieulaine, N., & Soulé, F. (2006). Future time perspective as predictor of cannabis use: Exploring the role of substance perception among French adolescents. Addictive Behaviors, 31(12), 2339–2343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2006.03.008.
Barber, L. K., Munz, D. C., Bagsby, P. G., & Grawitch, M. J. (2009). When does time perspective matter? Self-control as a moderator between time perspective and academic achievement. Personality and Individual Differences, 46(2), 250–253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2008.10.007.
Blows, S., Ameratunga, S., Ivers, R. Q., Lo, S. K., & Norton, R. (2005). Risky driving habits and motor vehicle driver injury. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 37(4), 619–624. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2005.03.003.
Chavarria, J., Allan, N. P., Moltisanti, A., & Taylor, J. (2015). The effects of present hedonistic time perspective and past negative time perspective on substance use consequences. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 152, 39–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.04.027.
Chebat, J. C., & Chandon, J. L. (1986). Predicting attitudes toward road safety from present and future time orientations: An economic approach. Journal of Economic Psychology, 7(4), 477–499.
Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A.-G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39, 175–191. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193146.
Forward, S. E. (2009). The theory of planned behaviour: The role of descriptive norms and past behaviour in the prediction of drivers’ intentions to violate. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 12(3), 198–207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2008.12.002.
Griva, F., Anagnostopoulos, F., & Potamianos, G. (2013). Time perspective and perceived risk as related to mammography screening. Women & Health, 53(8), 761–776. https://doi.org/10.1080/03630242.2013.836140.
Hall, P. A., Fong, G. T., & Sansone, G. (2015). Time Perspective as a Predictor of Healthy Behaviors and Disease-Mediating States. In: Stolarski, M., Fieulaine, N., van Beek, W. (eds) Time Perspective Theory; Review, Research and Application (pp. 339–352). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07368-2_22.
Harbeck, E. L., & Glendon, A. I. (2013). How reinforcement sensitivity and perceived risk influence young drivers’ reported engagement in risky driving behaviors. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 54, 73–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2013.02.011.
Harbeck, E. L., Glendon, A. I., & Hine, T. J. (2018). Young driver perceived risk and risky driving: A theoretical approach to the “fatal five”. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 58, 392–404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2018.06.018.
Hodgins, D. C., & Engel, A. (2002). Future time perspective in pathological gamblers. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 190(11), 775–780. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005053-200211000-00008.
Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–55.
Iversen, H. (2004). Risk-taking attitudes and risky driving behaviour. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 7(3), 135–150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2003.11.003.
Jackman, D. M., & MacPhee, D. (2017). Self-esteem and future orientation predict adolescents’ risk engagement. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 37(3), 339–366. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431615602756.
Jochemczyk, L., Pietrzak, J., Buczkowski, R., Stolarski, M., & Markiewicz, L. (2017). You only live once: Present-hedonistic time perspective predicts risk propensity. Personality and Individual Differences, 115, 148–153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.03.010.
Jose, P. E. (2016). The merits of using longitudinal mediation. Educational Psychologist, 51(3–4), 331–341. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2016.1207175.
Keough, K. A., Zimbardo, P. G., & Boyd, J. N. (1999). Who's smoking, drinking, and using drugs? Time perspective as a predictor of substance use. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 21(2), 149–164. https://doi.org/10.1207/15324839951036498.
Lemarié, L., Bellavance, F., & Chebat, J. C. (2019). Regulatory focus, time perspective, locus of control and sensation seeking as predictors of risky driving behaviors. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 127, 19–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2019.02.025.
McKay, M. T., Andretta, J. R., Magee, J., & Worrell, F. C. (2014). What do temporal profiles tell us about adolescent alcohol use? Results from a large sample in the United Kingdom. Journal of Adolescence, 37(8), 1319–1328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2014.09.008.
Meade, A. W., Johnson, E. C., & Braddy, P. W. (2008). Power and sensitivity of alternative fit indices in tests of measurement invariance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(3), 568–592. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.93.3.568.
Mello, Z. R., Oladipo, S. E., Paoloni, V. C., & Worrell, F. C. (2019). Time perspective and risky behaviors among Nigerian young adults. Journal of Adult Development, 26(3), 161–171. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-018-9304-2.
Mello, Z. R., Walker, E. B., Finan, L. J., Stiasny, A., Wiggers, I. C., McBroom, K. A., & Worrell, F. C. (2018). Time perspective, psychological outcomes, and risky behavior among runaway adolescents. Applied Developmental Science, 22(3), 233–243. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2016.1276455.
Murphy, L., & Murphy, G. (2018). Time to drive: Present vs. future orientation and self-reported driving behaviour. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 56, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2018.03.026.
Precht, L., Keinath, A., & Krems, J. F. (2017). Identifying the main factors contributing to driving errors and traffic violations–results from naturalistic driving data. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 49, 49–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2017.06.002.
Pyszczynski, T., Greenberg, J., & Solomon, S. (1999). A dual-process model of defense against conscious and unconscious death-related thoughts: An extension of terror management theory. Psychological Review, 106(4), 835–845. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.106.4.835.
Măirean, C., & Diaconu-Gherasim, L. R. (2019). Adolescents’ subjective well-being: The role of adolescents’ and mothers’ time perspectives. Time & Society, 28(3), 108410.1016/j.trf.2016.12.0081104. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961463X17752282.
Măirean, C., Havârneanu, G. M., Popușoi, S. A., & Havârneanu, C. E. (2017). Traffic locus of control scale–Romanian version: psychometric properties and relations to the driver’s personality, risk perception, and driving behavior. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 45, 13110.1016/j.trf.2016.12.008146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2016.12.008.
Rogers, R. W. (1975). A protection motivation theory of fear appeals and attitude change1. The Journal of Psychology, 91(1), 93–114. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.1975.9915803.
Rosenbloom, T., Shahar, A., Elharar, A., & Danino, O. (2008). Risk perception of driving as a function of advanced training aimed at recognizing and handling risks in demanding driving situations. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 40(2), 697–703.
Rosenstock, I. M. (1974). Historical origins of the health belief model. Health Education Monographs, 2(4), 328–335. https://doi.org/10.1177/109019817400200403.
Sekścińska, K., Rudzinska-Wojciechowska, J., & Maison, D. (2018). Individual differences in time perspectives and risky financial choices. Personality and Individual Differences, 120, 118–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.08.038.
Stolarski, M., Fieulaine, N., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2018). Putting time in a wider perspective: The past, the present, and the future of time perspective theory. In V. Zeigler-Hill & T. Shackelford (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of personality and individual differences (pp. 592–628).
Stolarski, M., Wojtkowska, K., & Kwiecińska, M. (2016). Time for love: Partners’ time perspectives predict relationship satisfaction in romantic heterosexual couples. Time & Society, 25(3), 552–574. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961463X15596703.
Strathman, A., Gleicher, F., Boninger, D. S., & Edwards, C. S. (1994). The consideration of future consequences: Weighing immediate and distant outcomes of behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66(4), 742–752. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.66.4.742.
Sullman, M. J., & Taylor, J. E. (2010). Social desirability and self-reported driving behaviours: Should we be worried? Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 13(3), 215–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2010.04.004.
Sword, R. M., Sword, R. K., Brunskill, S. R., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2014). Time perspective therapy: A new time-based metaphor therapy for PTSD. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 19(3), 197–201. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2013.763632.
Taubman Ben-Ari, O. T., Florian, V., & Mikulincer, M. (1999). The impact of mortality salience on reckless driving: A test of terror management mechanisms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(1), 35. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.76.1.35.
Tofighi, D., & MacKinnon, D. P. (2011). RMediation: An R package for mediation analysis confidence intervals. Behavior Research Methods, 43(3), 692–700. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-011-0076-x.
Ulleberg, P., & Rundmo, T. (2003). Personality, attitudes and risk perception as predictors of risky driving behaviour among young drivers. Safety Science, 41(5), 427–443. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0925-7535(01)00077-7.
van Beek, J., Handgraaf, M. J., & Antonides, G. (2017). Time orientation and construal level: Effects on eating and exercising behaviour and preferences. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 41(1), 54–60. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12313.
Weber, E. U., Blais, A. R., & Betz, N. E. (2002). A domain-specific risk-attitude scale: Measuring risk perceptions and risk behaviors. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 15(4), 263–290. https://doi.org/10.1002/bdm.414.
Wickens, C. M., Toplak, M. E., & Wiesenthal, D. L. (2008). Cognitive failures as predictors of driving errors, lapses, and violations. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 40(3), 1223–1233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2008.01.006.
World Health Organization. (2015). Global status report on road safety 2015. World Health Organization.
Xu, T., Chen, Z., Sirois, F. M., Zhang, R., Yang, Y., & Feng, T. (2021). Neuroanatomical substrates accounting for the effect of present hedonistic time perspective on risk preference: the mediating role of right posterior parietal cortex. Brain imaging and behavior, 15, 244–254.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-019-00251-z.
Zajenkowski, M., Stolarski, M., Witowska, J., Maciantowicz, O., & Łowicki, P. (2016). Fluid intelligence as a mediator of the relationship between executive control and balanced time perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1844. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01844.
Zhang, J. W., Howell, R. T., & Bowerman, T. (2013). Validating a brief measure of the Zimbardo time perspective inventory. Time & Society, 22(3), 391–409. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961463X12441174.
Zimbardo, P., & Boyd, J. (2008). The time paradox: The new psychology of time that will change your life. Free press of Simon and Schuster Inc..
Zimbardo, P. G., & Boyd, J. N. (1999). Putting time in perspective: A valid, reliable individual differences metric. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 6, 1271–1288. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.77.6.1271.
Zimbardo, P. G., & Boyd, J. N. (2015). Putting time in perspective: A valid, reliable individual-differences metric. In M. Stolarski, N. Fieulaine, & W. van Beek (Eds.), Time perspective theory; review, research and application. Springer.
Zimbardo, P. G., Keough, K. A., & Boyd, J. N. (1997). Present time perspective as a predictor of risky driving. Personality and Individual Differences, 23(6), 1007–1023. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(97)00113-X.
Funding
This work was supported by a grant of Ministery of Research and Innovation, CNCS - UEFISCDI, Romania, project number PN-III-P1–1.1-PD-2016-0902, within PNCDI III.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Cornelia Măirean was involved in conceiving and designing the study, collecting the data, analyzing the data, writing and preparing the manuscript for publication. Loredana Diaconu-Gherasim was involved in designing the study, analyzing the data, writing and preparing the manuscript for publication. Both authors had equal contribution to this study.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of Interest/Competing Interests
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethics Approval
The protocol for this study was approved by the Ethical Committee of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania. All procedures performed in the study was in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments.
Consent to Participate
Informed consent to participate in the study was obtained from participants.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Măirean, C., Diaconu-Gherasim, L.R. Time perspective, risk perception on the road, and risky driving behavior. Curr Psychol 42, 5611–5620 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01921-2
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01921-2