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Low Self-Control, Social Learning, and Texting while Driving

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Abstract

Despite the known implications of texting while driving for reducing driver alertness and increasing traffic accidents, investigating the potential causes of the behavior is something that criminologists have only recently started to investigate. The current study builds on this small body of research by assessing whether low self-control is associated with the frequency of texting while driving and, further, whether this association is moderated by perceptions of the texting habits of other drivers and best friends. Results based on data collected from a sample of 469 young adults indicate that low self-control is positively associated with the frequency of texting while driving. In addition, this association is amplified by an individual’s perceptions of the proportion of other drivers who engage in texting while driving, but not by the texting and driving habits of best friends.

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Notes

  1. To encourage participation in the study by keeping the in-person survey interviews brief, we chose not to include the full 24-item measure of low self-control developed by Grasmick et al. (1993). With regard to the choice to assess impulsivity and risk-seeking in particular, this was guided by prior research suggesting that these dimensions of self-control are more strongly associated with antisocial behavior than other dimensions (see Longshore, Rand, & Stein, 1996; Piquero & Rosay, 1998). In additional, multiple studies testing self-control theory have been based on the use of composite measures of only impulsivity and risk-seeking items (e.g., Higgins, Jennings, Tewksbury, & Gibson, 2009; Schreck, Stewart, & Fisher, 2006).

  2. There is no clear standard for the minimum number of values required for a dependent variable to be considered continuous and for OLS regression to be used as a modeling strategy. The dependent variable is measured on a 10-point ordinal scale, and some researchers may view the use of OLS regression as inappropriate. As a sensitivity check, each of the models described in the results section were re-estimated when using ordered logistic regression as an alternative to OLS regression (the Brant test indicated the parallel regression assumption was not being violated for the model as a whole). These ordered logistic regression models (available on request) produced results that were substantively identical to those reported in the results section, increasing our confidence that the findings are not merely a consequence of modeling strategy.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th St., PCA-364B, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Ryan Charles Meldrum

  2. Department of Sociology, Bowling Green State University, 240 Williams Hall, Bowling Green, OH, 43403, USA

    John H. Boman IV

  3. Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th St., PCA-257, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Sinchul Back

Authors
  1. Ryan Charles Meldrum
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  2. John H. Boman IV
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  3. Sinchul Back
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Correspondence to Ryan Charles Meldrum.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Table 4 Correlation matrix (N = 469)
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Appendix 2

Table 5 Logistic regressions of dichotomized texting while driving (N = 469)
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Meldrum, R.C., Boman, J.H. & Back, S. Low Self-Control, Social Learning, and Texting while Driving. Am J Crim Just 44, 191–210 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-018-9448-4

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