Masculinity and motor vehicle crashes among young adults

Background

Motor vehicle crashes (MVC) are the leading cause of death among youth in the U.S. Adjusting for the amount of driving, young men's MVC fatality rate is higher than young women's. This suggests fundamental sex differences. Traditional beliefs about masculinity are related to high-risk behavior among young men, but this association has not been tested for driving. It was hypothesized that an association exists between masculinity, risky driving and MVCs, and the association would be stronger for young men than young women.

Methods

The study sample included young adults recruited from Michigan. Confirmatory latent-variable structural equation analysis tested if risk-taking propensity and physical and verbal hostility (all capturing one dimension of masculinity) predicted risky driving behavior and crash involvement. A two group comparison contrasted men and women.

Results

Results from the total sample fit the data well. Masculinity and risk-taking propensity predicted 20% of the variance in risky driving, but less than 1% of the variance in MVCs. The sex comparison indicated that the same model fit both sexes. Model fit was improved by releasing three equality constraints. The final model explained 19% of the variance in risky driving, and less than 1% of the variance in MVCs. Physical hostility and risk-taking propensity more strongly predicted masculinity for men than women, whereas masculinity predicted women's risky driving better than men's.

Conclusion

Further examination of the association between masculinity and driving outcomes is needed to understand the unexpected result of masculinity more strongly predicting risky driving in women than men.