Venturesomeness and extraversion as correlates of juvenile drivers' traffic violations.

Ninety-eight juvenile traffic offenders, 81 men and 17 women, were examined regarding the personality traits of extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism, impulsiveness and venturesomeness and compared with a control group of 149 applicants for driving licences, 82 male and 67 female. The participants of the study were administered German translations of the Eysenck personality questionnaire (EPQ-R) and the impulsiveness/venturesomeness/empathy questionnaire (IVE). Traffic offenders had significantly higher scores on the venturesomeness dimension as compared to the control group, and male offenders scored significantly higher on extraversion than did male controls. Hypotheses regarding a relationship between traffic offences and psychoticism and impulsiveness were not confirmed, however. It is concluded that traffic violations in juveniles should primarily be viewed within the scope of normal behaviour and do not necessarily imply serious personality disorder.

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