Sorry, I'm Late; I'm Not in the Mood: Negative Emotions Lengthen Driving Time

摘要

A considerable amount of research has shown that anger degenerates driving performance [e.g., 1, 2, 3], but little research has empirically shown other affective effects on driving. To investigate angry and sad effects on driving, we conducted a driving simulation study with induced affective states. In cognitive psychology, there is the "sadder but wiser" phenomenon, but given that driving is a complex, dynamic task that engages not only basic cognitive processes, but also other critical elements such as decision making, action selection, and motor control, it might result in different outcomes. Thirty-two participants were induced into sad, angry, or neutral affective states and asked to complete a driving task using a medium fidelity driving simulator. Measures included driving performance, subjective mood ratings, and a NASA-TLX workload index. Results showed that participants in the angry and sad conditions took significantly more time to complete the driving task compared to the neutral condition.