Drivers typically calibrate their driving behavior with their perceived risk of the current driving situation. However, the degree of risky behavior that drivers find acceptable may be affected by individual difference factors, such as gender, cognitive ability, and personality traits. Using a publicly available dataset examining cognitive and personality variables in a sample of older American adults (CogUSA; McArdle, Rodgers, & Willis, 2015), the present study assessed the relationships between global and information processing factors and self-perceived risky driving behavior (after controlling for general self-perceived risk-taking). Global factors included gender, age, and the big five personality traits. Information processing factors were measured by scores on Visual Matching, Incomplete Words, Auditory Working Memory, and Spatial Relations tests. Results indicated that gender, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and visuo-spatial processing predicted increased self-perceived risky driving behavior. The results have implications for the assessment of driving risk factors across ages, as well as the burgeoning field of hazard perception training.
