Masters Thesis

Behavior economic and social variables influencing cell-phone distracted driving

Despite media campaigns aimed at reducing cell phone use while driving, prevalence remains alarmingly high. One reason why individuals may use a cell phone while driving is because they are unable to delay gratification when faced with an immediate reward, an interpretation consistent with delay discounting, or the tendency for rewards to decline in value as a function of time until their receipt. The present study applied a discounting framework to examine the effects of behavioral economic and social variables on college students’ decisions about using a cell phone while driving. In a novel Distracted Driving Delay Discounting Task (DDDDT), participants were asked to imagine they were driving on the highway when they received either a phone call or a text message. Across trials, social variables and the time to one’s destination were manipulated. Participants indicated their likelihood of waiting to return the phone call or reply to the text message. Participants also completed a Cell Phone Dependence Scale, Distracted Driving Behavior Norms Questionnaire, Driving Habits Questionnaire, and Drug Use Questionnaire. Results showed that the likelihood of cell phone use decreased hyperbolically as a function of time until one’s destination is reached. Results also demonstrated that likelihood of cell phone use while driving decreases when contacted by a less important social relation through a text message and while traveling with passengers in the car. Our translational findings are likely to inform interventions aimed at reducing cell phone distracted driving by mitigating excessive delay discounting in vulnerable driver populations.

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