Article

Received 16.07.2025

Revised 10.11.2025

Accepted 23.12.2025

Published 06.01.2026

Retrieved from Vol. 15, No. 2, 2025

Pages 34 -43

Andriishyn, N. (2025). Psychological characteristics of personality affecting driving behaviour. Psychology and Personality, 15(2), 34-43. https://doi.org/10.33989/2226-4078.2025.2.34

Psychological characteristics of personality affecting driving behaviour

Nazar Andriishyn

The study aimed to identify the relationship between psychological traits and driving style in the context of cross-cultural comparison. Within the framework of the empirical study, the Big Five Inventory-2 methodology was used to assess personality characteristics and the Driving Behaviour Questionnaire to analyse driving style. The results of the study revealed differences caused by driving experience, as well as cultural differences in the expression of basic personality traits. It was found that with increasing driving experience in both samples, there was a decrease in the level of neuroticism (in Ukraine from 3.4 to 2.9 points, in EU countries from 3.2 to 2.7), which indicated a stabilisation of the emotional background. A similar trend was observed for extraversion and openness to experience. Cross-cultural analysis revealed that European respondents at all levels of experience had higher average scores for agreeableness and conscientiousness, which correlated with the dominance of a safe driving style. Neuroticism proved to be a significant predictor of aggressive driving style, and extraversion was a risk factor in the Ukrainian sample but was associated with safer behaviour in the European sample. Conscientiousness was the most consistent indicator of a safe driving style, particularly among experienced European drivers (M = 4.5). It was found that drivers with an aggressive or deliberately risky driving style cause about 25-30% of all road traffic accidents (RTAs). Among drivers with up to 5 years of experience, the level of involvement in road accidents is 12-15% higher than among those with more than 15 years of experience, regardless of their country of residence. The study demonstrated the feasibility of introducing psychological components into driver training programmes. The results can be used by road safety specialists and insurance companies to improve driver training programmes and promote a culture of safe driving

intercultural differences; road traffic accident; safe behaviour; risk; driving style
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https://doi.org/10.33989/2226-4078.2025.2.34