Investigating the Relationship Between Mood and Driver Behaviors: Mediating Roles of Perceived Stress and Driving Anger

Introduction: Mood and emotion variously affect our behaviors. The present study examined the relationship between positive and negative affect and driver behaviors as well as the mediating role of perceived stress and driving anger. Method: A total of 369 drivers (age: M = 35.52, SD = 10.61) participated in the study by completing the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, the Perceived Stress Scale, the Driver Anger Scale, the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire, and the Positive Driver Behaviour Scale. Results: Six serial mediation analyses revealed multiple mediations explaining violations the most and positive behaviors the least. Both positive and negative affects were associated with greater anger, leading to more violations. Moreover, positive affect was negative and negative affect was positively related to perceived stress, which in turn was related to increased violations. For positive behaviors, positive affect was associated with less perceived stress, which was associated with more positive behaviors. Conclusion: Moods and emotions reveal a tendency to behave in ways that can be dangerous to drivers and other road users. The study was particularly important because it was the first in the literature to examine positive and negative affect on driver behaviors, perceived stress, and driving anger.