Southeast University Reports Findings in Risk Management (The effect of risk perception and other psychological factors on mobile phone use while crossing the street among pedestrians): Risk Management

2022 APR 07 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New research on Risk Management is the subject of a report. According to news reporting from Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Pedestrians may be the most vulnerable group among road users, and mobile phone use while crossing the street is ubiquitous worldwide in this information era. However, previous studies have found that such distracting behaviors may increase the risk of injury and death.”

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Southeast University, “The present study primarily aimed to explore the effect of reinforcement sensitivity theory components (i.e., Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS), Behavioral Approach System (BAS)), risk perception, attitudes towards red light running, and fear of missing out (FoMO) on mobile phone use while crossing the street among pedestrians. Risk perception was measured in three ways (i.e., assessing the probability of a negative outcome (RP-Pro), judging the severity of the consequence (RP-Se), and evaluating the general riskiness of the behavior (RP-Ri)). An online questionnaire survey was conducted, and only valid responses (N = 425) were used for subsequent data analyses. The results indicated significant differences in the responses across the risk perception questions with different focuses. Participants who reported engaging in more distracted street-crossing (i.e., high-risk takers) perceived a significantly lower risk, and this difference did not depend on the focus of risk perception. Three path analysis models with differential risk perception constructs (RP-Pro, RP-Se, and RP-Ri) were developed to examine the relationship between risk perception and distracted street-crossing. The results suggest that the relationship between these two variables does not depend on the focus of the risk perception questions. Moreover, FoMO was a predictor of mobile phone use while crossing the street, while attitudes had both direct and indirect effects on behavior. BIS and BAS had the lowest total effect on mobile phone use among pedestrians. In particular, a direct association between BAS and distracted street-crossing was found only in the model in which risk perception was measured by judging the severity of crashes caused by mobile phone use distraction. This study may be meaningful for understanding the associations between psychological factors and mobile phone use among pedestrians.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “The implications of the findings for the development of safety interventions are discussed in this study.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: The effect of risk perception and other psychological factors on mobile phone use while crossing the street among pedestrians. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 2022;170:106643. Accident Analysis & Prevention can be contacted at: Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd, The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, England.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Mingyu Hou, School of Transportation, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China. Additional authors for this research include Sikai Chen and Jianchuan Cheng.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2022.106643. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Publisher contact information for the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention is: Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd, The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, England.

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