The influence of music on mild driver aggression (original) (raw)

Effects of Music on Driver Behavior

WSEAS TRANSACTIONS ON ACOUSTICS AND MUSIC, 2020

The attention level of car drivers is affected by many factors. Music is one of the most importantones, but its effect is rarely studied. Music can affect driving style in both positive and negative ways, as itcan reduce fatigue but also increase the level of distraction or aggression. This article presents anexperimental investigation of the effects of music on driver attention level. Several measurements on avehicle simulator were done to collect data that demonstrates the relationship between music and theperformance of the car driver. The simulation measured performance under three conditions - relaxationmusic, rock music and silence. Additionally, the measurements were repeated in both fresh and tired states.The results are, in some aspects, different from our expectations - for example, relaxation music improvedreaction time but also correlated with a higher occurrence of inappropriate steering actions. Deeperunderstanding of how the music and noise affect the driver’s actions...

Driving with music: Effects on arousal and performance

Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 2013

In the current study, we aimed at exploring the influence of music on driving performance, arousal and mental effort while carrying out a monotonous car-following task in a lowcomplexity traffic setting. Participants (N = 47) were randomly assigned to loud and moderate volume music groups, and completed one drive in the simulator with music and another drive without music (control condition). In addition, during both of the drives we monitored driving performance and recorded participants' heart rate to track physiological indications of arousal and mental effort. Results revealed that listening to music had no effect on accuracy of car-following, and even had a positive effect on response latencies to speed changes of the lead vehicle and on lateral control. Importantly, arousal was higher in the presence than absence of music irrespective of the volume level, suggesting that loud volume music was not more arousing than moderate volume music. In addition, mental effort, which was inferred from the physiological measurement of heart-rate variability, did not differ in conditions with and without music. These findings indicate that listening to music does not impair performance in a monotonous car-following task, and might even improve some aspects of performance as a result of increased arousal.

If You're Angry, Turn the Music on: Music Can Mitigate Anger Effects on Driving Performance

Research has focused on music's negative effects on a driver's attention, whereas little research has addressed the possibility of using music to reduce emotional effects on driving. In the present study, we investigate how music can mitigate the degenerated driving performance associated with angry driving. To this end, fifty-three drivers participated in a simulated driving study either with or without induced anger. Three groups of participants with induced anger drove in a simulator while listening to happy or sad instrumental pieces, or without music. In the control group, anger was not induced and they did not listen to music during driving. The results show that participants who listened to either happy or sad music had significantly fewer driving errors than those who did not listen to music. However, no significant differences were found between happy and sad music conditions. Results are discussed with an affect regulation model and future research.

The influence of music on mood and performance while driving

Ergonomics, 2012

Mood can influence our everyday behaviour and people often seek to reinforce, or to alter their mood, for example by turning on music. Music listening while driving is a popular activity. However, little is known about the impact of music listening while driving on physiological state and driving performance. In the present experiment, it was investigated whether individually selected music can induce mood and maintain moods during a simulated drive. In addition, effects of positive, negative, and no music on driving behaviour and physiological measures were assessed for normal and high cognitive demanding rides. Subjective mood ratings indicated that music successfully maintained mood while driving. Narrow lane width drives increased task demand as shown in effort ratings and increased swerving. Furthermore, respiration rate was lower during music listening compared to rides without music, while no effects of music were found on heart rate. Overall, the current study demonstrates that music listening in car influences the experienced mood while driving, which in turn can impact driving behaviour.

The influence of music on mental effort and driving performance

Accident Analysis & Prevention, 2012

The current research examined the influence of loud music on driving performance, and whether mental effort mediated this effect. Participants (N = 69) drove in a driving simulator either with or without listening to music. In order to test whether music would have similar effects on driving performance in different situations, we manipulated the simulated traffic environment such that the driving context consisted of both complex and monotonous driving situations. In addition, we systematically kept track of drivers' mental load by making the participants verbally report their mental effort at certain moments while driving. We found that listening to music increased mental effort while driving, irrespective of the driving situation being complex or monotonous, providing support to the general assumption that music can be a distracting auditory stimulus while driving. However, drivers who listened to music performed as well as the drivers who did not listen to music, indicating that music did not impair their driving performance. Importantly, the increases in mental effort while listening to music pointed out that drivers try to regulate their mental effort as a cognitive compensatory strategy to deal with task demands. Interestingly, we observed significant improvements in driving performance in two of the driving situations. It seems like mental effort might mediate the effect of music on driving performance in situations requiring sustained attention. Other process variables, such as arousal and boredom, should also be incorporated to study designs in order to reveal more on the nature of how music affects driving.

Music Distraction among Young Drivers: Analysis by Gender and Experience

Journal of Advanced Transportation, 2020

e aim of this study was to quantify the probability of committing a speed infraction by young drivers and to investigate to what extent listening music could affect young drivers' emotions as well as their driving performances at the wheel. To achieve this aim, employing Bayesian networks, the study analysed different music styles, in which they resulted in sample drivers' speed infractions. Gender and drivers' experiences at the wheel were the other factors, which were taken into account when interpreting the study results. Variables taken into account in this study included type of music whilst driving, gender of drivers, and drivers' driving experiences. ese variables further incorporated into the study of other telemetric variables including acceleration, number of revolutions per minute (RPM) of the engine, brake, traffic, and other types of infractions other than speed, which were considered as dependent variables. A driving simulator was used, and different driving simulation studies were carried out with young people aged between 20 and 28 years. Each participant carried out three simulations by listening to different type of music in each journey. e study defined a conceptual model in which the data were analysed and evaluated mathematically through Bayesian networks. A sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the influence of music on driving speed. Based on the different variables, the study further analysed the probability of speed infractions committed by drivers and their adequate speed. e range of frequency probabilities varied between 96.32% (which corresponds to experienced male drivers who do not listen to music) and 79.38% (which corresponds to less-experienced female drivers who listen to music), which resulted in their happiness or aggression.

The impact of music on vehicular performance: A meta-analysis

Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 2019

Various studies offer insightful perspectives on the potential impact of music-listening on driving performance. These studies, however, present conflicting views on the effect of music as either hindering or enhancing driving performance and advance inconclusive claims regarding how and to what extent specific music parameters affect vehicular performance. In this study, therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of relevant studies. First, we identified experimental studies that measured the effects of musiclistening on driving performance through database searches using multiple variants including ''car", ''driv*", ''perf*", and ''music*"; of the 118 publications reviewed, 12 met the inclusion criteria for the current meta-analysis. Second, we coded independent variables-i.e., tempo, volume, instrumentation, familiarity, musical style, the music's source, and whether music was selected by the researchers or the drivers-and dependent variables-i.e., vehicular longitudinal and lateral control, driver reaction time, traffic signal violations, collisions, and driving scores. Third, we ran mixed-effects and random-effects models to identify both general tendencies and more particular trends related to the effect of music-listening on driving performance-driving performance is here understood as the combination of vehicle manipulation and road navigation. Consistent with anecdotal evidence, the results of this meta-analysis show that music-listening has a statistically significant detrimental effect on driving performance, specifically for collisions and longitudinal control. In contrast with anecdotal evidence, however, the results of this meta-analysis show a detrimental effect associated with music-listening at soft volumes and no significant difference in driving performance associated with tempo. The study's findings contributed to the development of a process model, and the concluding discussion offers suggestions for future empirical investigations related to music and driving.

The influence of music genres on the driving behaviour of young drivers and their visual scanning of the environment

Recently, distractions have been recognized as a significant risk factor in road traffic. This simulator study aims to investigate how different music genres affect the driving behaviour of young drivers and their visual scanning of the environment in urban settings. The genres considered were Croatian pop, foreign pop, classical music, metal, and Balkan folk music, while on one road section there was no music. The research sample consisted of 61 participants (44 males and 17 females) with a mean age of 24.58 years and a mean driving experience of 5.25 years. The influence of music on the drivers' behaviour was analysed on the basis of the data collected from the driving simulator, eye tracking glasses, and structured observation during driving sessions. It was found that the highest average speed (around 60 km/h) was recorded while the participants were listening to Balkan folk and metal music, while other music genres, as well as the "no music" condition, influenced driving speed in a similar way to one another and the participants drove at 50 km/h on average. Furthermore, the results suggest that the music genre also affects how drivers visually scan the environment (the number of gazes classified as fixations and number of road signs looked at). The findings obtained may be used in road safety work and practical recommendations and further research are discussed.