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Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran. , hadianfd@shirazu.ac.ir@gmail.com
Abstract:   (31 Views)
Background: Traffic accidents are considered a major public health problem in many countries. Various studies have implicated psychosocial variables (e.g., Lack of empathy and rumination of anger) in the risk of dangerous driving and traffic accidents. However, whether these variables are related to more basic neurobiological factors, and whether such associations have implications for the modification of psychosocial risk factors in the context of driving, have not been examined in depth. 
Aims: This study was conducted to investigate the role of empathy and anger rumination in predicting risky driving behavior.
Methods: The research method was descriptive of the correlational type, which was conducted using a regression model. The statistical population of this research consisted of all drivers in the city of Shiraz in the year 1403. The sample of the study was 209 drivers from the city of Shiraz, who were selected through convenient sampling.  In this way, after necessary coordination with the urban and intercity transport organization of Shiraz, 209 drivers with at least a secondary education level were selected from among the available volunteer drivers and responded to the Manchester Driving Behavior Questionnaire (MDBQ, Reason et al., 1990), the Basic Empathy Scale (Jolliffe, & Farrington, 2006), and the Anger Rumination Scale (ARS, Sukhodolsky et al., 2001). The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 28 by employing Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression.
Results: The results from the Pearson correlation coefficient indicated that there is no significant relationship between empathy and risky driving behavior (P > 0.05). There is also a positive and significant relationship between the rumination of anger and risky driving behavior (p < 0.05). The results of the multivariate regression showed that rumination of anger explains 5.30% of the variance in risky driving behavior.
Conclusion: Considering these results, anger rumination is a weak predictor of risky driving among drivers. Therefore, other psychological, social, and economic factors should consider the interactions between factors related to risky driving. It is suggested that future studies repeat these findings with objective criteria and by utilizing other influential variables.


 
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Type of Study: Research | Subject: Special
Received: 2025/05/12 | Accepted: 2025/07/21 | Published: 2026/04/21

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