Cross-cultural generalisability of relationship between anti-social motivation and traffic accident risk. Prepared for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions DETR, Road Safety Division RSD.

Previous research has indicated a relationship between social deviance and traffic accident risk. This study examined how far this finding would generalise across cultures and traffic environments. Public vehicle drivers in the former Czechoslovakia have for several decades been required to undergo an intensive series of psychological tests before joining the company. These tests included the KFP-30 problem behaviour questionnaire. 1788 bus drivers were tested between 1981 and 1989 and were followed up for one year to assess their accident rates. Scores on the KFP-30 predicted accidents independently of other factors and the relationship held across the full range of scores, not only at the extremes. The results confirm that social deviance as a dimension applying to the whole population is linked with accident risk, and that the association is not culture specific. (A)