Chinese Drivers’ Risky Driving and Risk Taking in Other Life Situations

Abstract

The first aim of this study was to investigate Chinese drivers' preferences to risk-taking behaviors encountered in daily life, including safety and health, finance, recreation, social areas, and ethics. The second aim was to evaluate the association between Chinese risky driving and other risk-taking behaviors. A questionnaire survey was conducted with the 324 Chinese drivers who responded. Through a principal component analysis an 8-factor structure was created to interpret different domains of risk-taking behaviors. They were risks in driving, ethics, recreation, gambling, abused health (voluntarily engaging in smoking and binge drinking), investment, ignored health (ignoring personal health, such as eating expired food), and monetary social areas. The result of multiple regression analysis showed that drivers who were likely to engage in driving risks were also likely to take risks in domains of ethics, abused health, gambling, investment, recreation, and ignored health.