ATTITUDE TRENDS IN RELATION TO HIGH SCHOOL GRADE AND DRIVING EXPERIENCE

THREE GROUPS OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WERE ADMINISTERED A QUESTIONNAIRE CONSISTING OF 80 DRIVING AND NON-DRIVING ITEMS. THE THREE GROUPS WERE 10TH GRADE PRE-DRIVERS (N=119), 10TH GRADE DRIVERS (N=169), AND 12TH GRADERS (N=216), ALL DRIVERS. FOR EACH ITEM THREE TESTS OF SIGNIFICANCE FOR RESPONSE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE THREE GROUPS WERE DETERMINED. DIFFERENCES SIGNIFICANT AT THE 0.01 LEVEL WERE FOUND FOR 21 ITEMS, AND 12 OF THESE ITEMS THE PERCENTAGE OF AGREE RESPONSE OF THE 12TH GRADERS WAS MORE EXTREME THAN EITHER OF THE 10TH GRADE GROUPS. INTEREST FOCUSED ON THESE 12 ITEMS. FOR SEVEN OF THESE ITEMS THE 12TH GRADERS DIFFERED SIGNIFICANTLY FROM THE 10TH GRADE PRE-DRIVERS, BUT NOT FROM THE DRIVERS, AND FOR EACH OF THESE ITEMS THE 12TH GRADE RESPONSE WAS THE LEAST SOCIALLY RECOMMENDED. FOR THE REMAINING FIVE ITEMS THE 12TH GRADERS DIFFERED SIGNIFICANTLY FROM THE 10TH GRADE DRIVERS, BUT NOT FROM THE PRE-DRIVERS, AND FOR EACH OF THESE ITEMS THE 12TH GRADE RESPONSE WAS THE MOST SOCIALLY RECOMMENDED. THUS, THERE APPEAR TO BE TWO DISTINCT ATTITUDE TRENDS DURING HIGH SCHOOL. THE CONTENT OF THE 12 ITEMS LED TO AN INTERPRETATION OF THE TWO ATTITUDE TRENDS: (1) THE LOWER ETHICAL VALUES DEVELOPED DURING HIGH SCHOOL TEND TO BE ANTICIPATED BY THE 10TH GRADE DRIVERS, AND (2) THE GREATER ACCEPTANCE OF SOCIAL CONTROLS TENDS TO BE ANTICIPATED BY THE 10TH GRADE DRIVERS. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbbulletin/285/285-003.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • No 285, pp 29-34, 2 TAB, 7 REF Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Levonian, Edward
  • Case, Harry W
• Conference:
  • 39th Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 1960-1-11 to 1960-1-15
• Publication Date: 1961

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Pagination: 6p
• Monograph Title: Driver personality and behavior characteristics
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Bulletin
  • Issue Number: 285
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Attitudes; Behavior; Drivers; High schools; Knowledge; Questionnaires; Reaction time; Slopes; Students
• Uncontrolled Terms: Driver reaction; Experience; Grades
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222842
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Sep 9 1994 12:00AM