Examining the Roles of Attachment Theory and Sensitivity to Reward and Punishment in Predicting Driving Behavior Among Young Adults

Drivers under the age of 25 years old have the highest per capita fatal-crash rate. They are also over represented in particular risky driving behaviors, such as speeding, safety belt non-use, and impaired driving. Although researchers have used many different theories to explain driving behaviors of young adults, two theories which have received less attention, attachment theory and reinforcement sensitivity theory, were used as a theoretical framework in the present research. Reckless driving has been found to serve as an anxiety buffering function that can reduce stress among insecurely attached individuals (Taubman - Ben-Ari et al., 1999). Having a secure adult attachment style leads individuals to believe that they are important to others and should take care of their lives. In 2007, Taubman - Ben-Ari and Mikulincer were the first to utilize attachment theory to explain risky driving in an Israeli population. This thesis attempted to replicate and extend their work in a sample of young adults in the United States. Specifically, the association between attachment theory and driving behaviors, both safe and risky, was examined. Attachment anxiety was a consistent, strong positive predictor of risky driving whereas attachment avoidance was a stronger predictor of positive driving. Further, risky and positive driving behaviors may be better understood with a closer examination of the motivational systems involved in driving behavior proposed by Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory. The behavioral activation system (BAS) and behavioral inhibition system (BIS) are theoretical, neurological systems that are sensitive to reward and sensitive to punishment, respectively (Gray, 1987). Although these systems have been extensively studied with a multitude of risky behaviors, few studies have investigated their effect on driving behavior. Therefore, another purpose of the current study was to apply these behavioral systems to the prediction of driving behavior. As expected, sensitivity to reward was associated with more risky driving. However, sensitivity to punishment did not emerge as a significant predictor with risky or positive driving. The third purpose of this study was to integrate the theories and to examine the relationship between the attachment orientations and the behavioral systems as related to risky driving. The attachment dimensions and sensitivity variables were tested together in an omnibus model and explained a significant amount of variance in risky and positive driving. The current research study added important findings to two separate fields of literature and was one of the first studies to integrate the fields. These results have practical implications on the media messages targeted towards emerging adults as well as how behavior-change interventions can be designed for greater effectiveness.