French drivers’ behavior: Do psychological resources and vulnerabilities matter?
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Introduction Driving is a risky activity, and road users' behavior is one of the many factors that participate in increasing the risk of road-traffic crashes. Drivers must constantly adapt their behavior to the environment and control their vehicles, and must also anticipate the behavior of others, which may pose a threat to their own safety. Interactions between road users can therefore be stressful and elicit strong negative emotions. Psychological resources and vulnerabilities may be important in understanding how drivers perceive and respond to these driving interactions. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of empathy, self-compassion, personal distress, and alexithymia in both dangerous and prosocial driving behaviors. Method Our sample (N = 550) of French drivers was recruited via snowball sampling. The drivers filled in paper-and-pencil questionnaires including the Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ), the French adaptation of the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (Short-FTEQ), the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), the Self-Compassion Scale - Short Form (SCS-SF), and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Results After controlling for gender and age, regression analyses revealed that road traffic violations were positively predicted by alexithymia and negatively predicted by cognitive empathy; errors were positively predicted by alexithymia and personal distress, and prosocial driving was positively predicted by emotional and cognitive empathy. A two-step…
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General laborers often perform complex tasks and have a higher turn-over, which can make it challenging to implement regular safety measures and training.
“Furthermore, general laborers often perform complex tasks and have a higher turn-over, which can make it challenging to implement regular safety measures and training (Liu et al. 2022).”
From Impact of risk mitigation strategies on non-fatal injuries in the construction sector in qatar: a retrospective analysis (2025) · cites this paper as Liu et al. 2022
The diverse nature of general laborers' work may lead to situations where PPE is not suitable for all tasks or where risk mitigation strategies are not effectively tailored to their specific needs.
“Moreover, the diverse nature of their work may lead to situations where PPE is not suitable for all tasks or where risk mitigation strategies are not effectively tailored to their specific needs (Liu et al. 2022).”
From Impact of risk mitigation strategies on non-fatal injuries in the construction sector in qatar: a retrospective analysis (2025) · cites this paper as Liu et al. 2022
PPE alone is not sufficient without thorough safety procedures and training, as persons wearing PPE may engage in risky behaviors thinking that they are protected.
“suggesting that PPE alone is not sufficient without thorough safety procedures and training, as persons wearing PPE may engage in risky behaviors thinking that they are protected (Liu et al. 2022; Gyekye and Salminen 2021; Solis and Philips 2018; Neitzel et al. 2009).”
From Impact of risk mitigation strategies on non-fatal injuries in the construction sector in qatar: a retrospective analysis (2025) · cites this paper as Liu et al. 2022
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- Authors
- Karras, M., Delhomme, P., & Csillik, A.
- Affiliations
- Université Paris Nanterre (FR)
- Université Gustave Eiffel (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Karras, Marion
- Venue
- Journal of Safety Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-02
- Volume
- 80
- Pages
- 235-242
- ISSN
- 0022-4375 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4200351714
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 68
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 1.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Safety Research (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality › Traffic and Road Safety
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › IoT and GPS-based Vehicle Safety Systems
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Human-Automation Interaction and Safety
- Keywords
- driver behavior, dangerous driving, empathy, self-compassion, personal distress, alexithymia, road traffic violations, road safety, psychological vulnerability, cognitive empathy, affective empathy, road traffic crashes
- MeSH terms
- Accidents, Traffic, Altruism, Automobile Driving, Dangerous Behavior, Humans, Surveys and Questionnaires, Risk-Taking
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