Beyond avoidance: re-conceptualising everyday driving anxiety
Driving anxiety has typically been studied either as a clinical phobia or in terms of overt avoidance, drivers who stop driving altogether or restrict themselves to familiar routes. Yet many drivers experience lower-intensity anxiety that does not meet diagnostic criteria but nonetheless shapes their everyday choices, including merging, gap acceptance, interactions with vulnerable road users, and engagement with driver assistance features. This PhD project will develop and test a population-level account of everyday driving anxiety. The research will examine how trait anxiety, driving-specific worry, and situational appraisals interact to predict driving behaviour, with a particular focus on the anticipation processes (Level 3 situation awareness) that anxiety is theorised to disrupt. Using a mixed-methods approach combining survey work, hazard interpretation paradigms, and simulator studies, the project aims to map the prevalence and consequences of low-level anxiety in the driving population. The findings will inform the design of brief interventions that can be embedded in driver training, post-licensing programs, and emerging digital coaching tools.
Supervisor: Amanda Stephens