Normative influences across cultures: Conceptual differences & potential confounders
among drivers in Australia & China
Judy FleiterBarry Watson, Alexia Lennon, Mark King & Kan Shi
CRICOS No. 00213J
1st International Conference on Human Factors in Transportation
21-25 July 2012 | San Francisco
Overview
Speeding in Australia and China
Normative influences on speeding
The concept of culture
Results of qualitative and quantitative studies
Potential cultural considerations (confounders) in road safety research
Speeding in Australia
Years of rigorous enforcement & public education campaigns
Yet still implicated in ~25% fatal crashes
1 of the ‘Fatal 4’
Australian Transport Council, 2011
Speeding in China
• Rapid motorisation in recent years• Traffic-related mortality increased 81% in 20
years to 2006 (Wang et al, 2008)
• Statistics vary (see Li et al, 2012)
– Total annual fatality estimates range from 67,000 – 100,000+
• Speed implicated in 50-90% fatal crashes
• Road safety research in infancy
Normative influences (1)
• Friends– Peer influence– Graduated driver licensing restrictions
• Family– Role models– Parental supervision during Learner phase
• Other road users– Platoon– Keeping up with speed of others
Normative influences (2)
• Personal norms
• Group norms
• Subjective norms
• Moral norms….
Normative influences (3)
• Commonly examined only in one cultural context
• Usually in highly motorised countries
• What do we know about this issue in rapidly motorising countries, such as China?
Culture in Road Safety Context (1)
1. Culture as interaction between specific groups of road users (eg age, ethnicity, education)
Differential impact of broader societal influences (eg traffic laws) on specific groups, focussing
on group interaction
Culture in Road Safety Context (2)
2. Study culture with ‘cross-cultural’ studies:
Same behaviour/group is studied in 2 or more culturally-bound contexts
Characteristics that are specific to people because of geographic location, common natural history
Encompasses broader societal influences and person-based factors
Challenges across Cultures
• Methodological:– May be fundamental differences in economic,
institutional, social, cultural factors
• Theoretical:– Understanding behaviour across groups– How best to operationalise theoretical components
developed in 1 context to maintain essence of original meaning?
Chinese Road Safety Research
• Limited to date• Role of ‘self’ different in Chinese society?• Xie & Parker, 2002
– Culturally specific issues relevant in China, but not Britain:
– Sense of social hierarchy– Challenge to legitimate authority– Value of interpersonal networks
Type Location N Recruitment
Focus group interviews
Queensland 67 Community & University
Questionnaire Queensland 833 Service station food courts
Focus group interviews
Beijing 35 CAA Membership & University
Questionnaire Beijing 299 Car washing shops
Method
*Normative influence & self-identity examined in both countries*Part of a larger project examining social learning and reinforcement factors on
speeding behaviour
Self-identity
Is it important to be known as someone who drives above the
speed limit?
Self-identity
• Australia– Project image of responsible & safe driver (ie
obey limits), even if not
• China– Of no real consequence– Not worthy of discussion because speeding is
so common
Question...
If you received a speeding ticket, who would you be embarrassed
to tell?
Embarrassed?
• Australia– Embarrassment Dichotomy
– ‘Hide the ticket’ vs. ‘No big deal’
• China– No embarrassment– Just ‘bad luck’ if caught– Happy to warn others of enforcement sites
Community Norms (1)
When interviewed, drivers in both countries reported:
*Speeding is commonplace
*Majority of people speed
*Perceptions of community acceptance/tolerance of speeding
Community Norms (2)
Australia:
“I just assumed that everybody speeds. Most on the
road are keeping up with me and I’m sometimes trying to keep up with them.
” 49 year old male
Community Norms (3)
China:Asked a specific question
(based on Perkins & Wechsler, 2006)
Imagine that someone visits you from another country. They have never been here before. What would you tell
them about driving speeds in Beijing?
Community Norms (4)
China:
Expecting similar results to those found in Australia because speeding had already been described
as widespread and ‘no big deal’ by Chinese participants.
30 yr old male:
“Speaker 1: I would tell them that there is no speeding in Beijing.
It’s the same as when we tell others that our University is the best. When we go to foreign countries, we will tell others that China is the
best country in the world. So when we talk about speeding with foreigners, you are not just
yourself, you must...
26 year old male:Speaker 2…take the reputation of our country into
consideration.
Speaker 1: Yes, you are not only yourself. More importantly, you represent the honour of the whole country. In our country, we don’t take speeding as seriously as foreigners. In their eyes, speeding is a big deal so if they ask me about this issue, I will tell them speeding is not a common thing.
Speaker 2 :I agree. I would say that I have never noticed people speeding. We should show others the good side of our country and city.
”
The Concept of Face
• Integral in Chinese conduct
• ‘An individual’s public or social image gained by performing one of more specific social roles that are well recognised by others (Luo, 2007)
• Face saving/reputation saving of nation
• ‘Faking good for foreigners’
• Triandis’ welfare of the collective (Triandis, 2001)
– Individualism-collectivism dimension
Quantitative findings
Type of Driver
Question Australia China
Never deliberately drive above Speed limit
19.8% 39.7% 2 (4) = 72.81, p<.001, øc = 0.26
Often drive above Speed limit 24.8% 7%
Community Norms
Australia China Contrary to Interview?
Drivers here think it is OK to exceed speed limit
M=3.1*SD = 2
M=2.2SD=1.2
Drivers here think you are unlucky if caught speeding
M=3.58**SD= 2.1
M= 2.36SD=1.3
I would be embarrassed to tell people I got caught speeding
M=4.45SD=2.1
M=4.57SD=1.7
*t(820)=8.08, p<.0001, =.54 ** t(827)=11.58, p<.0001, =.69
Scored: 1= Strongly Disagree to 7 = Strongly Agree
Discussion
• Discrepancy between qualitative & quantitative findings within countries
• Perceptions of greater community acceptance of speeding appeared higher in Australia
• Australian drivers appear less compliant with speed limits than Chinese drivers
But are they ?
Conclusions
• Results may reflect ‘reality’ or may be related to ‘faking good for foreigners’
• However, a foreign researcher (me) was present when ‘faking good’ was discussed
• Could socially desirable responding be taking place in both countries?
Food for Thought…
• The issue of ‘face’ in road safety context not previously described
• More research needed to better understand this potential confounder and to search for others
• Important because international collaborations taking place to assist rapidly motorising countries deal with enormous road trauma burden
Thank you, any questions/comments?
Acknowledgements:
Australian Postgraduate Award, National Health and Medical Research Council Australia-China Fellowship, Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Psychology
Mark your Diaries!
International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety Conference (ICADTS T2013)
August 2013, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
References
Australian Transport Council. (2011). National Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020. Retrieved from http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/safety/national_road_safety_strategy/index.aspx.
Li, Y., Xie, D., Nie, G., & Zhang, J. (2012). The drink driving situation in China. Traffic Injury Prevention, 13, 101-108. doi: 10.1080/15389588.2011.637097
Luo, Y. (2007). Guanxi and business. New Jersey: World Scientific.
Perkins, H. W., & Wechsler, H. (1996). Variation in perceived college drinking norms and its impact on alcohol abuse: A nationwide study. Journal of Drug Issues, 26(4), 961-974.
Triandis, H. (2001). Individualism-Collectivism and Personality. Journal of Personality, 69(6), 907-924.
Wang, Y., Hasselberg, M., Wu, Z. Z., & Laflamme, L. (2008). Distribution and characteristics of road traffic crashes in the Chaoyang District of Beijing, China. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 40, 334-340.
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