Amused, accepted, and used? Attitudes and emotions towards automated vehicles, their relationships, and predictive value for usage intention

Automated vehicles (AVs) have left the laboratories and can be experienced in several projects, e.g. at the premises of a clinic in Germany. With this transition, research on AV attitudes no longer needs to rely on questionnaires with hypothetical scenarios and simulations. Previous research – limited by the unavailability of AVs – has provided ambivalent results regarding age and gender differences in attitudes towards AVs. The authors present research results about the role of age and gender in connection with attitudes such as acceptance, perceived safety, and trust, as well as intention to use. The authors additionally demonstrate relationships between those constructs and emotions such as amusement, fear, and surprise. Data were collected from participants (n = 125) after having experienced an AV ride with level 4 automation on two campuses of a clinic in Berlin, Germany. Results reveal strong correlations between all attitudes (0.55 ≤ r ≤ 0.71; p < 0.01) and show acceptance and perceived safety to be solid predictors of intention to use AVs. The authors also found age to be a significant predictor for usage intention even when other attitudes are considered (β = −0.22; p < 0.01). MANOVA results point to gender differences in all constructs, but with limited confidence (5.40 ≤ F ≤ 18.34; p ≤ 0.02). However, the authors reject their hypothesis that young men are highly accepting, trusting, and intending to use AVs compared to other combinations of age and gender. The authors recommend using a mix of attitude, emotion, and behavioural (intention) measures in future research on AVs together with more transparency regarding construct definitions and study materials.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2019.07.009
• Record URL:
  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369847819300932
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/13698478
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Zoellick, Jan C
  • Kuhlmey, Adelheid
  • Schenk, Liane
  • Schindel, Daniel
  • Blüher, Stefan
• Publication Date: 2019-8

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 68-78
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour
  • Volume: 65
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 1369-8478
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/13698478

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Acceptance; Age; Automobile travel; Autonomous vehicles; Behavior; Emotions; Gender; Level 4 driving automation; Psychological trust; Technology
• Geographic Terms: Berlin (Germany)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01717563
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 19 2019 3:07PM