Transactions on Transport Sciences (Apr 2023)
The perceived effectiveness of penalties in traffic offender and non-offender groups: the role of the Dark Triad and Behavior Inhibition/Activation Systems
Abstract
Although the number of studies about the perception of traffic enforcement has increased, the importance of personality characteristics on these perceptions remain under-researched. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between the Dark Triad personality trait and the perceived effectiveness of traffic penalties for traffic offenders and non-offenders and to test whether BIS and BAS mediate this relationship. A convenience sample of 694 Lithuanian drivers participated in the study (55.3 percent males; aged 18-73 years). More than half (57.9 percent) of the drivers were non-offenders, while 42.1 percent reported having been sanctioned for at least one traffic offence in the last year. A scale containing ten specific sanctions for traffic offences was developed to measure the perceived effectiveness of traffic penalties. In addition, the Dirty Dozen and BIS/BAS scales were included in the questionnaire, together with a number of demographic questions. There was a weak negative correlation between the Dark Triad personality trait and the perceived effectiveness of traffic penalties. Non-offenders scored lower than traffic offenders on the BIS scale, but the perceived effectiveness of traffic penalties, the Dark Triad personality trait and the BAS scores did not differ between traffic offenders and non-offenders. The mediation analysis showed that BAS mediated the positive relationship between the Dark Triad personality trait and the perceived effectiveness of traffic penalties. However, BIS did not mediate this relationship. Therefore, the present study revealed two opposite mechanisms regarding the relationship the Dark Triad personality trait has with the perception of penalty effectiveness: a direct negative path and an indirect positive path via higher BAS.
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