Do Different Jobs and People's Beliefs Affect Their Commitment to High-Risk Driving Behavior?

Abstract

Since driving behaviors are cross-cultural in nature, they are directly under the influence of the ethical characteristics and mentality of individuals. This reality dramatically connects the driver behavior studies to the study of the humanities. People's jobs can substantially affect their beliefs and legitimacy, which are two critical indicators that successively affect the social lifestyle. This study, for the first time, aims to investigate the effects of the indicators mentioned above and different careers on drivers' behavior. The study uses a mixed questionnaire tool that contains four main parts including demographic information, a modified Driving Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ), the Allport religious orientation scale and the legitimacy questionnaire. The purpose of the study is to investigate the significant relationship between high-risk driving behaviors and the amount of belief and legitimacy of people in different job conditions. Statistical analysis, including analysis of variance (ANOVA), was used for data analysis. A sample of people (n=103) who had the driving license in four groups of jobs (including university professors, students, teachers, private-sector jobs, public-sector jobs) completed the combined self-report survey. The results showed that the type of job has significant effects on one's driving behavior. The public-sector jobs committed the most violations (mean value of 1.64 in a 6-point Likert scale), and students are ranked second in this respect; teachers and university professors have the least high-risk driving behavior. The results of this study can be applied to determine the primer policies of traffic education in different job sectors.