PERCEPTIONS OF PROFESSIONAL AND UNPROFESSIONAL DRIVERS ABOUT THEIR OWN BEHAVIOURS AND SKILLS

Öz

According to Social Identity Theory people tend to be positive for members of group to which they feel as belonging and to be negative for members of group to which they do not feel as belonging. Such perception bias is thought to be exist among different group of drivers in traffic, as well. In this context, this study aims to investigate professional (like taxi drivers) and unprofessional (private car users) drivers’ driver skills, safety concerns and risk-taking behaviors and together with researching perception of each group of drivers toward the other. 40 unprofessional and 39 professional drivers participated in the study. After each participant assessed himself/herself through Driver Skill Inventory (DSI) and risk-taking behavior scale, s/he also evaluated members of the other group of drivers through these scales. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant differences between the two groups. Specifically, it was found that professional drivers state their driver skills and safety concerns higher and their risk-taking behaviors lower than unprofessional drivers in traffic. Moreover, each group’s self-assessment scores with regard to driving skills, safety concerns and risk-taking behaviors are generally in line with the other group’s perception of that group on these variables.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• professional drivers
• unprofessional drivers
• driver skills
• risk-taking behaviors
• traffic psychology

Profesyonel ve Profesyonel Olmayan Sürücülerin Davranışları ve Becerileri Hakkındaki Algıları

Öz

Sosyal Kimlik Kuramına göre insanlar, aidiyet hissettiği grubun üyelerini daha olumlu, aidiyet hissetmediği grubun üyelerini ise daha olumsuz değerlendirme eğilimindedir. Bu bağlamda trafiğe karışan farklı sürücü gruplarının da buna benzer bir tutum sergileyebileceği düşünülmüştür. Dolayısıyla profesyonel (taksi şoförlerinin) ve profesyonel olmayan sürücülerin; sürücü becerileri, güvenlik endişeleri ve risk alma davranışlarının incelenmesi ve her iki grubun bu özellikler açısından birbirine yönelik algısının araştırılması bu çalışmanın temel amacıdır. Çalışmaya 39 tane profesyonel ve 40 tane profesyonel olmayan sürücü katılmıştır. Her katılımcı kendisini Sürücü Becerileri Ölçeği (SBÖ) ve risk alma davranışları ölçeği üzerinden değerlendirip karşı grubun üyelerini de aynı ölçekler üzerinden değerlendirmiştir. Tek yönlü varyans analizi (ANOVA) ile iki grup arasında anlamlı farklılıklar bulunmuştur. Spesifik olarak, profesyonel sürücülerin trafikte profesyonel olmayan sürücülere göre sürücü becerilerini ve güvenlik kaygılarını daha yüksek ve risk alma davranışlarını daha düşük olarak beyan ettikleri bulunmuştur. Ayrıca, her grubun öz değerlendirme puanları ile diğer grubun üyelerine yönelik algısı genellikle paralellik göstermiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• profesyonel sürücüler
• profesyonel olmayan sürücüler
• sürücü becerileri
• risk-alma davranışları
• trafik psikolojisi

Kaynakça

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