Gender Roles and the Expression of Driving Anger Among Ukrainian Drivers

Abstract

The current study investigated the validity of the revised (25-item) version of the driving anger expression inventory (DAX) on a novel sample of 385 drivers from Ukraine. The roles of sex and gender in relation to self-reported aggressive tendencies were also examined. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the four-factor structure of the DAX (adaptive/constructive expression; use of the vehicle to express anger; verbal aggressive expression; and personal physical aggressive expression), and the three aggressive factors were found to have positive relationships with trait anger and driving anger, while adaptive/constructive expression was negatively related to trait and driving anger. Drivers who reported recent near-misses or loss of concentration scored higher on verbal aggressive expression. Those who had recently received a traffic ticket also reported higher levels of all three types of aggressive anger expression. Further, the presence of feminine traits, but not sex, predicted more adaptive/constructive behaviors and lower scores for verbal aggressive expression, personal physical aggressive expression, and total aggressive expression. However, masculine traits did not predict any of these factors. This research concludes that the revised DAX is a valid tool to measure the expression of driving anger and that the endorsement of feminine traits is related to less aggressive expression of driving anger.

Gender roles, sex and the expression of driving anger

“…Although they did not include the DAX, Ozkan and Lajunen (2005) found that masculinity was related to risky and aggressive driving behaviour. This finding is, to some extent, backed up by research in Ukraine, which found that gender-roles, not sex, predicted the expression of driving anger (Sullman, Stephens & Hill, 2016). More specifically, the Ukrainian research found that femininity played a protective role in reducing engagement in aggressive forms of anger expression.…”

“…Although the 25-item version of the DAX is relatively recent, it has been validated in Spain (Gras et al, 2016), Ukraine (Sullman, Stephens & Hill, 2016), along with the Republic of Ireland and the UK . All of these studies have supported the fourfactor structure of the DAX, as have most of the studies using the 49-item version (i.e., Deffenbacher et al, 2002;Esiyok, Yasak & Korkusuz, 2007;Jovanovic, Lipovac, Stanojevic & Stanojevic, 2011;Sarbescu, 2012;Sullman, Stephens & Yong, 2015;Sullman, Stephens & Kuzu, 2014).…”

Difficulties in emotion regulation and risky driving among Lithuanian drivers

“…Gender differences in driving have been explained by different sex-roles (Sullman et al 2016), higher social acceptance of male risk taking by society and an evolutionary based gender identity (Özkan and Lajunen 2006).…”

Risks and drivers of hybrid car adoption: A cross-cultural segmentation analysis

“…The original version of the questionnaire was developed in English, and then translated into South Korean and Japanese by a professional translator as per the standards followed by previous researchers (e.g. Sullman et al, 2017). Back translation using the procedure of Hohl and Gaskell (2008) was applied to ensure consistency of meaning.…”