Are novice drivers overconfident? A comparison of self-assessed and examiner-assessed driver competences in a Finnish and Swedish sample

Mynttinen, Sami; Sundström, Anna; Koivukoski, Marita; Hakuli, Kari; Keskinen, Esko; Henriksson, Widar

doi:10.1016/j.trf.2008.09.002

Cited by 35 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…In the earlier studies [2,3], where cross-national surveys of selfevaluated driving skills of candidates who took a license test were carried out, all of the correlation coefficients were found to be weakly or moderately positive. About half of the Finnish and Dutch candidates made a realistic assessment, although between 58 and 70% of Swedish candidates overestimated their skills.…”

Section: Methods For Self-assessmentmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Studies conducted by Mynttinen et al [2,3] have compared selfassessed driving skills with observed driver performance and revealed that there were no significant differences in self-assessment accuracy between males and females or driving candidates of different ages. Considering the various and somewhat conflicting results that have been generated by these different assessment methods, it seemed clear that a study should be conducted that attempted to demonstrate whether, and if so, to what extent, gender and age play a role in the accuracy of driver self-assessment among Japanese driving school students.…”

Section: Methods For Self-assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finnish, Swedish, and Dutch driver training and examinations are based on this conceptual model, which focuses on assuring that drivers obtain the fundamental skills necessary for ensuring traffic safety [2,3]. According to this model, certain driver behaviours are set out in a hierarchical structure, named as 'Goals for life and skills for living', 'Goals and the context of driving', 'Mastering traffic situations', and 'Vehicle manoeuvring'.…”

Section: Self-assessment Of Driving Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Finland, driving tests also include driver self-assessment procedures in the driving-license test; they compare candidates' selfassessments of their skills with those of the instructors [2]. This is in contrast to Japan, where the focus of the test is entirely on passing the examination; indeed, no attention is given to the accuracy of the novice drivers' self-assessment of their skills.…”

Section: Self-assessment Of Driving Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparing the self-assessed and examiner-assessed driving skills of Japanese driving school students

Nakai

Usui

2012

IATSS Research

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a b s t r a c tPrevious research about subjective driving skills has revealed that drivers, especially younger males, tend to rate their driving skills more highly than those of the average driver. This study examines the accuracy of Japanese novice drivers' self-evaluation of their driving skills by comparing their self-assessments with assessments made by a driving examiner. We also examined the effects of gender and age on the accuracy of driver selfevaluation of their skills. A sample of Japanese driving test candidates (n= 2021) completed a self-assessment using a 5-point scale applied to 19 items. The candidates completed the assessment shortly after passing their practical driving test conducted at a driving school. Their performance was also assessed by an examiner who used the same scale. The comparison between self-assessment and examiner-assessment revealed that around 40% of Japanese driving school students made a realistic assessment of their skills. With regard to the gender differences, although males displayed higher levels of overconfidence than females did, the differences were not as large as earlier studies with questionnaires had suggested. Furthermore, the effect of age on the accuracy of novice drivers' skill assessment was found to be relatively small. Our findings, which are based on a comparison of subjective assessments of driving skills between examiners and novices, instead of a questionable method which relies on a comparison with a hypothetical average driver, suggest that the majority of candidates in fact do not overrate their own skills. These results were discussed from the viewpoint of the driver education system and compared to other European research using the same framework.

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Section: Methods For Self-assessmentmentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Methods For Self-assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Self-assessment Of Driving Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Self-assessment Of Driving Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Comparing the self-assessed and examiner-assessed driving skills of Japanese driving school students

Nakai

Usui

2012

IATSS Research

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“…Sundström found only a weak relationship between predicted and actual performance on these tests, with performance on the theory test having the strongest relationship with perceived performance. In contrast, Mynttinen et al (2009) concluded on the basis of a similar study, that a large proportion of driving candidates made realistic self-assessments of their driver competence. Between 40% and 50% of respectively Dutch and Finnish candidates made realistic assessments and "only" 40% to 30% overestimated their competence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do young novice drivers overestimate their driving skills more than experienced drivers? Different methods lead to different conclusions

Craen¹,

Twisk²,

Hagenzieker

et al. 2011

Accident Analysis & Prevention

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Time course of driving-skill self-assessments during French driver training

Boccara¹,

Delhomme²,

Vidal-Gomel

et al. 2011

Accident Analysis & Prevention

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Promoting self-assessment accuracy among student drivers could help improve the road safety for young novice drivers (Minimum Requirement for Driving Instructor Training, 2005). However, it is essential to first examine the time course of student drivers' assessments of their own driving skills. As a result, the present study examined the time course of student drivers' self-assessments in relation to their general driving abilities during the four steps of French driver training. We used Victoir et al.'s (2005) self-efficacy scale, which we translated into French. We set four goals for the present study: (1) to examine the psychometric qualities of this self-assessment scale, (2) to study the time courses of the students' self-assessments, (3) to investigate the relationship of these time courses to the number of driving hours that the students estimated that they needed to complete before taking the driving test, and (4) to compare the number of hours estimated by the students to the number of hours estimated by their driving instructors. In total, 150 students (58 men and 92 women) and 38 instructors from 13 driving schools in Paris participated in the present study. The self-assessment scale was composed of 12 items that were rated on a 7-point Likert scale that ranged from 1 (certainly so) to 7 (certainly not). The internal consistency of the scale was satisfactory (α=.88). The self-assessments became increasingly positive as the training progressed (at the beginning of training, M=3.45 vs. at the completion of the training, M=4.8). Globally, the men assessed themselves more positively than the women. However, no significant gender difference was observed at each training step. The students' self-ratings were negatively correlated with the number of driving hours that they estimated they still needed before taking the driving test. This number did not differ significantly from the number of hours that was estimated by the instructors at each training step throughout the training. The results describing the time course of the student drivers' self-assessments during driver training and this time course's correlation with the estimated number of driving hours still needed to take the driver test were discussed.

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Are novice drivers overconfident? A comparison of self-assessed and examiner-assessed driver competences in a Finnish and Swedish sample

Cited by 35 publications

References 30 publications

Comparing the self-assessed and examiner-assessed driving skills of Japanese driving school students

Comparing the self-assessed and examiner-assessed driving skills of Japanese driving school students

Do young novice drivers overestimate their driving skills more than experienced drivers? Different methods lead to different conclusions

Time course of driving-skill self-assessments during French driver training

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