“Baby on board”: Reducing risk taking in adult drivers in a simulated driving game

Two studies examined the effects of different socio-affective factors on risk driving behaviour. In Experiment 1, 87 adult drivers we asked to play a computer-based driving game after being exposed to a series of images that depicted infants, police or neutral information (control condition). In Experiment 2 we tested a further 60 adult drivers. We found a significant effect of our manipulation on driving behaviour, with performance being significantly less risky in the infant condition than in the police and control conditions. In addition, this advantage was not simply due to variations in emotions typically associated with infant pictures. The results of this study highlight the importance of studying the role of socio-affective context when investigating factors that influence driving behaviour.