Effects of psycho-social skills training on bus drivers’ aggression and cognitive flexibility

Abstract

Background: In recent years, the growing amount of public transport drivers’ aggression and anger has increased the road rage rate. Although various studies have been conducted on this issue, the impact of cognitive flexibility has not been investigated yet. Aims: The aim of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of psycho-social skills training on bus drivers’ cognitive flexibility and aggression. Method: This project started in 1390 and in several phases administered on drivers applying for bus driving company in Tehran This research was quasi-experimental with one group pretest posttest design and the sample group consisted of 70 Tehran bus drivers who were selected by using the convenience sampling method in 2019. The Shokoohi-Yekta Psycho-Social Skills Training Program (2015) was performed in 9 sessions each of which was 90 minutes. Buss and Perry Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) (1992) and Cognitive Flexibility Inventory (CFI) (2010) were used for data collection. The data were analyzed utilizing dependent t-tests. Results: The findings of the present study showed that the training program significantly decreased the drivers’ aggression and increased their cognitive flexibility (P< 0/000). Conclusions: The results demonstrated that the psycho-social skills training package can be broadly used to reduce bus drivers’ aggression and improve their cognitive flexibility.

Keywords

• psycho-social training
• aggression
• cognitive flexibility
• bus drivers.