There is widespread use of self-report measures of driving behaviour in the traffic psychology literature, despite the frequent criticism that suchmeasures are subject to social desirability bias. However, no research has yet investigated the more recently developed measures of driving anxietyand avoidance behaviour for socially desirable responding. Furthermore, relatively little research has investigated the issue of socially desirableresponding on self-reported driver behaviour in general, and that which does exist has several shortcomings. The present study used a repeated measures design to assess the effect of social desirability on a measure of driving avoidance, the Driving and Riding Avoidance Scale (DRAS), and the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ). A sample of 228 undergraduate studentscompleted the DRAS, DBQ and a measure of socially desirable responding inclass, which constituted a public place, and then again 2 months later inthe privacy of their homes. None of the DBQ items were significantly different across the two locations. However, two of the DRAS general avoidanceitems were higher in the public setting, perhaps demonstrating the effectof socially desirable responding on driving avoidance due to environmental or practical concern. Nevertheless, overall it appears as though the DRAS and DBQ are not particularly vulnerable to socially desirable responding, although further well-designed research on the effects of such bias on these and other self-report measures of driving behaviour should be undertaken. (A) Reprinted with permission from Elsevier.
Abstract