Does Emotionality and Private self-consciousness influence drivers’ cognitive appraisal in anger-provoking situations?—An explorative study in Chinese drivers

In recent decades, most studies have investigated the role of drivers’ demographic background, dispositional traits, and cognitive appraisal in driving anger in an independent manner. However, it is possible that driver’s dispositions and their cognitive appraisal could impact driving anger concurrently. The present study aims to investigate how the individual’s characteristics (e.g., age, gender, and dispositions) influence state driving anger when considering the role of cognitive appraisal undertaken in anger-provoking situations. 17 anger-provoking scenarios using the Measure for Angry Drivers (MAD) were employed to probe the cognitive appraisal of Chinese drivers. The participants completed the Private self-consciousness scale (Prsc), the Brief HEXACO Inventory, and questions related to cognitive appraisal and state driving anger. Several ANCOVAs were performed to evaluate age and gender differences in state driving anger, Emotionality and Prsc. Results indicated that younger drivers reported higher state driving anger and Emotionality. While males and females exhibited similar levels of state driving anger, they significantly differed in Emotionality, instead of the Prsc. Moreover, a Partial Least Squared Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) found that age showed no direct impact on cognitive appraisal, but gender did. Importantly, Emotionality was found to be directly and positively related to state driving anger rather than the cognitive appraisal, while Prsc was indirectly associated with state driving anger if considering the driver’s cognitive appraisal. The study provided the theoretical basis and insights to develop targeted driving anger countermeasures in China.