Traffic congestion, driver stress, and driver aggression

Stress perception and commuting

“…This view is supported by the significant (albeit only moderate) point-biserial correlations between commutes by car and predictability (correlation coefficient r pb ¼ À0:260, P-value 0.000), commutes by bicycle/walking and commuting time (r pb ¼ À0:177, P-value 0.000) and commutes by bicycle/walking and predictability (r pb ¼ 0:384, P-value 0.000). However, a likelihood ratio test shows that the 'active' commuting mode dummies are close to being jointly significant at the 10% level (w 2 ð3Þ ¼ 6:05 with a P-value 0.109), which -in contrast to previous studies by Wener et al (2003), Hennessy and Wiesenthal (1999), Koslowsky et al (1995), or Kluger (1998), where this hypothesis could not be confirmed empirically -allows us to conclude that it does make a (albeit weakly) significant difference whether an active or passive mode of commuting is used, even though the direction of the effect cannot be determined.…”

“…Personal characteristics like gender, age, family, or health situation have been identified as important determinants of stress in the literature. While some authors do not find any significant effects of gender on commuting stress (Hennessy and Wiesenthal, 1999), others report significant differences between men and women, showing that women are more negatively affected by commuting stress than men (Novaco et al 1991;Koslowsky et al, 1995). The observed gender gap may result from different commuting patterns of men and women: female commuters can be assumed to have more complex commuting patterns since they face more household responsibilities (e. g. they may have to shop or take children to school during the commute) and therefore experience more stress.…”

“…This hypothesis has received special attention in the literature: 'active' modes of commuting like driving a car or riding a bicycle or motorcycle are associated with more control than 'passive' modes such as using public transport, and it is often assumed that individuals who experience more control over their commuting situation are less stressed. However, several studies on commuting stress (see Wener et al, 2003;Hennessy and Wiesenthal, 1999;Koslowsky et al, 1995;Kluger, 1998) do not confirm this hypothesis empirically. Koslowsky et al (1995) even hypothesize that car commuters may experience more commuting stress than bus or train users.…”

“…On the other hand, however, the existing literature does not fully clarify the effect of subjective factors like gender, predictability of the commute, and control over commuting: many empirical applications only find insignificant effects (e.g. Koslowsky et al, 1995;Wener et al, 2003;Hennessy and Wiesenthal, 1999) or results that are contrary to a priori hypotheses (see Schaeffer et al, 1988).…”

“…The second category of explanatory variables consists of subjective factors, such as the perception of control over the commute, the predictability of commuting conditions, and personal characteristics such as gender or family situation. Objective stressors have been extensively studied, e. g. research showing that the length of the commute and congestion increase stress (see Wener et al, 2003;Schaeffer et al, 1988;Hennessy and Wiesenthal, 1999). On the other hand, however, the existing literature does not fully clarify the effect of subjective factors like gender, predictability of the commute, and control over commuting: many empirical applications only find insignificant effects (e.g.…”