Investigating the Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Risky Driving Behaviors and Violation Consequences in Traffic Offenders in Tehran in 2018: A Descriptive Study

Background and Objectives: Road traffic accidents are a major cause of disability and mortality around the world and the most common cause of these accidents is often attributed to human errors. Considering the importance of emotional intelligence in controlling individual behaviors, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence and risky driving behaviors and violation consequences in traffic offenders in Tehran in 2018. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on 182 traffic offenders who were selected by convenience sampling method in Tehran in 2018. Demographic data form, Manchester Driving Behavior and Siberia Shering's Emotional Intelligence questionnaires were used for gathering information and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test and Structural Equations Modeling. Results: The Mean±SD score of emotional intelligence and risky driving behaviors were 1.85±0.33 and 2.09±0.59, respectively. Although the mean score of emotional intelligence was higher in men than women, this difference was not significant (p=0.065). The results of Structural Equation Modeling showed that with increasing emotional intelligence, risky driving behaviors with a coefficient of -0.36 and the violation consequences by a coefficient of -0.27 significantly decreased (p<0.05). Conclusion: Due to the low level of emotional intelligence of offending drivers and considering the importance of emotional intelligence in reducing risky driving behaviors, it is suggested that the emotional intelligence be considered before applicants getting a driver's license. Also, casualties and traffic accidents can be reduced by training emotional intelligence skills to offending drivers. Key words: Emotional intelligence, Traffic accidents, Drivers, Tehran   Funding: This research was funded by Tehran Traffic Police. Conflict of interest: None declared. Ethical approval: The Ethics Committee of Research Center of Emergency and Disaster Health, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences approved the study.   How to cite this article: Mehmandar M R , Sheikhy-Chaman M R, Khalili E, Mobaderi T , Ariana M. Investigating the Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Risky Driving Behaviors and Violation Consequences in Traffic Offenders in Tehran in 2018: A Descriptive Study. J Rafsanjan Univ Med Sci 2019; 18 (9): 921-34. [Farsi]