THE IMPACT OF MEDIA PORTRAYALS OF RISKY DRIVING ON ADOLESCENTS: SOME SPECULATIONS

Do television and motion picture portrayals of risky driving affect viewers' driving behavior? Unfortunately, no empirical studies directly address this question. However, research on observational learning demonstrates that humans acquire much of their information about human behavior from observing social models, and that these are frequently symbolic models portrayed in the mass media. It is also evident that attitudes and behaviors acquired from media portrayals depend on interactions among characteristics of the stimulus (e.g., the specific television content), of the observer (e.g., the specific needs and abilities of the viewer), and of the environment (e.g., external conditions operating during viewing and/or during performance). A growing literature on television's influence on a variety of diverse social attitudes and behaviors (e.g., sex-role attitudes, aggressive behavior, helping behavior, etc.) makes it reasonable to expect that driving behaviors may also be affected. Indeed, there is good reason to hypothesize that the exciting, entertaining, but often inappropriate driving behavior frequently portrayed in films and on television is particularly likely to influence teenage viewers. The abilities and needs of adolescents, as well as the social milieu in which they operate, may render them particularly susceptible to media portrayals of risky driving. This paper explores the mechanisms governing observational learning in the context of (a) characteristics of media portrayals of driving behavior, (b) characteristics of adolescent viewers, and (c) characteristics of the social environment in which adolescents are likely to observe and perform driving behaviors. In the absence of prior empirical research, the paper is speculative; its goal is hypothesis development.

• Corporate Authors:

  Brain Information Service

  California University, Center for Health Science
  Los Angeles, CA  United States  90024
• Authors:
  • Roberts, D F
• Publication Date: 1989-1

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 13-20
• Serial:
  • ALCOHOL, DRUGS AND DRIVING
  • Volume: 5
  • Issue Number: 1

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Adolescents; Attitudes; Behavior; Drivers; Driving; Impacts; Mass media; Risk taking; Social values; Television
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00608542
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-040 783
• Files: HSL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: May 31 1991 12:00AM