The Driving Vengeance Questionnaire (DVQ): The Development of a Scale to Measure Deviant Drivers’ Attitudes

Abstract

The Driving Vengeance Questionnaire (DVQ) was developed and administered to assess drivers’ use of vengeance when faced with common driving situations. Subjects in the development of the scale were 266 male and female university students. The scale was then administered to 271 university students (both male and female) and 74 male inmates who were classified as either violent or nonviolent offenders on the basis of the amount of force used in committing the offence. A Cronbach alpha of .83 (M = 40.76, n = 310) indicated a high level of internal consistency for the DVQ. Younger drivers (18-23 years old) indicated higher levels of vengeance while driving than did older drivers (24-66 years old, M = 44.35 and 37.81, respectively). Those with less driving experience (0-6 years) expressed higher levels of vengeance while driving than more experienced drivers (6+ years, M = 42.95 and 38.81, respectively). Male drivers responded with greater vengeance to the questionnaire items than females (M = 42.07 and 39.62, respectively). The level of force used in commission of crime failed to correlate with the DVQ. A factor analysis was performed with a different sample of subjects using a slightly modified version of the DVQ to deal with the issue of whether horn honking constituted an appropriate measure of aggression. When the two relevant DVQ items were changed to read “leaning on horn” rather than mere honking, a strong, single factor of vengeance was found to characterize the scale. Suggestions were made for the use of DVQ in the screening of driving license applicants and in the study of problem drivers.

Passenger complaints about driver behaviors

“…We expected drivers who scored higher on the Driving Habits Questionnaire to score higher on the Driving Vengeance Questionnaire. On both tests, scoring higher means you tend to choose a riskier driving strategy in certain situations In addition, because age and driving experience were inversely related to scores on the Driving Vengeance Questionnaire (Wiesenthal et al, 2000), we expected similar correlations between age and driving experience and the Driving Habits Questionnaire.…”

“…The couples were told the study would involve having each person in the relationship fill out a survey anonymously, and that the survey would take approximately 15 min to complete. If the individual agreed, he or she was given two packets, which included instructions, and a four-part survey with requests for background information, the Driving Habits Questionnaire (Appendix A) (developed by the authors for this study), the Driving Vengeance Questionnaire (Wiesenthal et al, 2000), and information on driving ability, safety, and previous accidents. Each member of the couple was asked to fill out their surveys independently and to seal their results in separate envelopes before discussing them.…”

“…This test, developed by Wiesenthal et al (2000), measured the reaction of drivers to common, frustrating driving situations, e.g. "a vehicle cuts in front of you while on the highway."…”

Advancing simulation-based driver training

“…Variants of the DBQ have been widely employed in numerous other studies (Åberg & Rimmö, 1998;Blockey & Hartley, 1995;Lajunen et al, 2004). EFA has also been applied for studying phenomena such as decision-making style and driving style (e.g., French et al, 1993), driver aggression and anger (Hauber, 1980;Iversen & Rundmo 2002, driver stress (Gulian et al, 1989), driver fatigue (Matthews & Desmond, 1997), perceptual motor skills and safety skills , skills and safetymotives (Lajunen & Summala, 1995), problem driving (Hartos et al, 2000), driver vengeance (Wiesenthal et al, 2000), driver emotion (Mesken, 2006), avoidance of driving (Stewart & St. Peter, 2004), and attitudes and habits towards speeding (De Pelsmacker & Janssens, 2005). The majority of EFA studies appear to be primarily based on self-reports of driving without incorporating objective driving performance.…”

Vengeance

“…A common procedure to measure an individual's extent of vengeful feelings is to employ the widely-used Vengeance Scale (Stuckless and Goranson 1992). This is a 7-point scale index based subjects' responses to such hypothetical statements as "I am not a vengeful person", "I try to even the score with anyone who hurts me," and "It is always better not to seek vengeance," Researchers have investigated the relationship between a vengeance index created this way and various behaviors, such as aggressive driving (Wiesenthal, Hennessy, and Gibson, 2000).…”