Psychology 409a,
Driving Identities over the Lifespan
By Melissa Mills
Instructions for
this activity are found at:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy25/g25-oral1.htm
Instructor: Dr. Leon James
Peter Rothe, editor (2002).
Driving Lessons: Exploring Systems That Make Traffic Safer. (
I. Current Driving Safety Intervention
A. A lot has been done in an effort to improve the level of safety on the road.
B. Most traffic safety initiatives focus on the individual drivers as the unit of analysis.
1. It is hard to change an individual’s behavior on the road.
C. Need to be a change in the way we think about driving, the individual driver and the ways we might influence the behaviors of individual drivers.
1. Need to consider drivers’ identities and how psychological and social forces affect driving behavior (Erikson)
2. This may provide information to develop more effective driving interventions.
D. North American drivers are viewed as individuals who are responsible for their driving.
1. In reality the individual driver is just a small part of a larger system that includes other drivers, pedestrian, bicyclists and society as a whole.
2. Safety requires cooperation of the whole society.
E. Driving as a reflection of who we are
1. We attribute behavior seen on the road to ones overall personality.
2. How and what we drive is a public statement.
II. Erickson’s Model (applied to driving)
A. Identity is most centrally a concern of young adults but is present throughout our lives.
B. Psychosocial model: tracks psychological and social forces that shape an individuals growth and development throughout their life. (8 stages)Tension between psychological identity desires and social identity carry moral implications.
1. With your identity comes certain roles and obligations that one must live up to in order to claim that identity (Honor Code).
III. Road Safety for Young Children
A. Erikson’s main psychosocial concerns at this age are initiative (doing things themselves) and industry (application of initiative).
1. These activities set the foundation for identity development later in life.
B. Parents and Teachers have the opportunity to influence these children in their safety behaviors.
1. Canadian Tire Kidestrian program works with parents to help them teach their children how to establish basic traffic safety behavior codes.
2. Thia’s study examined the increase in traffic safety knowledge of school age kids as a function of their parents’ instruction in the Canadian Tire Kidestrian program.
1. The study showed that the children whose parents received training in the program demonstrated higher levels of pedestrian safety knowledge.
2. This proves that to educate children about driving safety, the parents need to be educated.
IV. Young Novice Drivers
A. This is a big time in life for forming ones identity and also ones driver identity.
B. It is not understood why there is such a wide range of driving identities available to young drivers and why they decide to move in the direction of one identity over another.
C. Social and peer groups are used as a reference point.
D. Changing Young Drivers Behaviors
1. There is a need to develop ways to show young drivers the actual extent of the risks they take on the road.
2. Create a separation between driving and identity.
V. Middle-Aged Drivers
A. Identity is a less obvious concern for middle aged people.
B. Promoting the immorality of honor code-violating status
1. MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) worked on lowering the level of social acceptance of driving drunk.
2. Public service advertisements are effective because they raise the moral code aspects of driving.
a. The Australian Traffic Accident Commission presents normal people going through their day to day activities and then shows a socio-moral consequence resulting from their bad choices.
b. Adults then rethink components of their driving identities.
C. Intervention for adult drivers is socially directed. A driver is to re-establish their identity and moral codes.
VI. Elderly Drivers
A. Identity re-emerges
1. Reflect on life and think about whether the identity choices made earlier in life were right.
2. Integrity versus despair
a. Integrity: when they see their contributions and withdraw with integrity
b. Despair: when they view their choices as incomplete.
B. Automobile is necessary for transportation
1. Have a lot of free time as a result of retirement.
2. Public transportation system is not adequate.
C. Loss of driving means a loss of personal autonomy
D. How to get the elderly to cease driving
1. Involve them directly in the process.
2. Have them help in developing a seniors’ transportation plan in their community.
VII. Conclusion
A. On road driving behaviors are a result of honor codes and the formation of identity.
B. The success of past interventions has not been good.
C. Driving is a social activity.
D. Interventions at the social level should have more success than interventions at the individual level.
E. Also interventions aimed at shifting drivers’ honor codes should be a success.
My Homepage:
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409af2006/mills/mills-home.htm
Class web page:
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy25/classhome-g25.htm