Understanding the role of cognitive appraisal and mindfulness in driving-related anger among Chinese drivers

Cognitive appraisal plays an important role in driving anger, but it is unclear how drivers evaluate different anger-provoking situations. Also, mindfulness is regarded as a promising emotional regulation strategy, but its associations with state driving anger and non-adaptive anger expression are not well-understood. This study, therefore, examined the relationships between driving-related anger, trait mindfulness, and cognitive appraisal undertaken across diverse anger-provoking driving situations. An online survey was conducted with 559 Chinese drivers, who completed the short form of the Driving Anger Scale (DAS), the short form of the Driving Anger Expression Inventory (DAX), and the Mindfulness Awareness Attention Scale (MAAS). Participants also responded to questions related to state driving anger and cognitive appraisal in Safety Blocking (SB), Travel Blocking (TB), and Hostile Aggression (HA) situations. The structural equation models showed that all pathways among the driving-related anger variables were positive and significant, except for the link between state driving anger and non-adaptive anger expression in the TB situation. Furthermore, trait mindfulness mitigated trait driving anger and non-adaptive anger expression but not state driving anger. The investigation of appraisal patterns showed that drivers with higher trait driving anger consistently emphasised “goal relevance”, “goal incongruence”, and “other responsibility” in all anger-provoking situations. They also exhibited high “problem-focused coping potential” in SB and TB situations, while “emotion-focused coping potential” was salient in the HA situations, and both coping capacities were associated with state driving anger. Overall, the present study provides valuable insights for both theoretical understanding and policy implications by integrating the psychological mechanism of driving anger with road safety.