Maryam Merrikhpour Birsen Donmez Social Norms and Teenage Driver Distractions Maryam Merrikhpour Birsen Donmez

Motivation Driver distraction is a significant contributing factor in teenage driver crashes (Ferguson, 2003; Shope et al., 2008; Williams, 2003). 20% of all crashes involving 15-18 year old drivers (Curry, Hafetz, Kallan, Winston, & Durbin, 2011) 10% of fatal crashes among 15-19 year old drivers in the U.S. (NHTSA, 2016) 2

Background Social norms Growing interest in using motivational techniques to change behaviour Providing information on social norms as one of the most notable techniques Social norms Descriptive norms Injunctive norms 3 3

Theory of Social Norms (Berkowitz & Perkins, 1987; Berkowitz, 2004) People have strong preferences to behave similarly to those around them. Individuals misperceive social norms. Misperceptions cause individuals to change their behaviour. Revealing actual norms can reduce the occurrence of problematic behaviours. 4 4

Objectives Investigate the existence of misperceived social norms among teens Examine the correlations between social norms (parents and peers) and teens’ distraction 5 5

Hypotheses Teens’ overestimation of social norms Positive correlations between social norms and teens’ distraction Larger correlations with: Perceived norms compared to actual norms More proximal, relevant referents may have stronger influence compared to more distal referents (Social Comparison Theory, Festinger, 1954; Social Impact Theory, Latane, 1981). Peers’ norms compared to parents’ norms Same-gender referents’ compared to opposite-gender referents’ norms 6 6

Participants Recruitment So far 54 teen-parent dyads Male Female Total Teen 10 11 21 12 33 22 32 54 Recruitment 17 to 19 year old teens Have a G2 or G driver’s license Primary caregiver should also participate 7

Questionnaire Originally 16 distractions were selected. 11 distractions were included in analysis. Talking on a hand-held cell phone Talking on the phone using a hands-free device Reading a text message on a hand-held device Responding to a text message on a hand-held device Chatting with passengers if there are any … 8

Questionnaire Distraction engagement frequency Never=1, Rarely=2, Sometimes=3, Often=4, Very often=5, Don’t/doesn’t use the technology Distraction engagement frequency “On average how often you think you have engaged in each of the following tasks over the last year while driving?” Perceived descriptive norms “On average how often you think your mother, father, and friends your age have engaged in each of the following tasks over the last year while driving?” 9

Questionnaire Strongly disapprove=1, Disapprove=2, Neutral=3, Approve=4, Strongly approve=5 Perceived injunctive norms “How much your mother, father, and friends your age approve or disapprove if you engage in each of the following tasks while driving? Parents’ approval of distraction engagement “How much would you approve or disapprove if your teen did each of the following tasks while driving?” 10

Results Teens may be overestimating their parents’ descriptive norms. Teens’ perceived distraction Mean(SD) Self-reported distraction P value Mothers 2.03 (.66) 1.85 (.65) .002 Fathers 2.40 (.66) 2.11 (.63) .03 11

Teens may be overestimating their parents’ injunctive norms. Teens’ perceived approval Mean(SD) Self-reported approval P value Mothers 2.17 (.49) 1.79 (.51) <.001 Fathers 2.33 (.57) 1.89 (.61) .008 12

Parents may be underestimating their teen’s distraction engagement. Teens’ self-reported distraction Mean(SD) Parents’ perceived distraction P value 2.20 (.69) 1.92 (.62) <.001 13

Pearson correlations – descriptive norms * p< .05, ** p<.01, *** p<.001 14

Pearson correlations – descriptive norms * p< .05, ** p<.01, *** p<.001 15

Pearson correlations – injunctive norms * p<.05, ** p<.01, *** p<.001 16

Pearson correlations – injunctive norms * p<.05, ** p<.01, *** p<.001 17

Conclusions Teens may overestimate their parents’ distraction engagement and approval of distraction. Parents may underestimate their teens’ distraction engagement. Teens’ perceived descriptive and injunctive norms for both parents and peers were highly positively correlated with teens’ self-reported distraction engagement. 18

Conclusions Larger correlation was observed for: Same-gender parents compared to opposite gender. Perceived norms compared to actual norms 19

Acknowledgments 20