Objective: The relationship between alcohol use and driver behaviors has been frequently studied in the literature. However, a concept highly related to alcohol use, reinforcement sensitivity, did not receive enough attention with its link between alcohol use and driver behaviors. This study aimed to examine the moderating role of reinforcement sensitivity in the relationship between alcohol use and driver behaviors.
Method: A total number of 288 (53.1% females or 46.9% males) Turkish participants who drink alcohol and actively drive motor vehicles were involved in this research. The convenience sampling method was employed in this research, and all data were collected using Qualtrics, one of the online survey platforms.
Results: Moderation analyses were performed to test hypotheses. The results of the study showed that drivers' reward responsiveness, which is a subfactor of reinforcement sensitivity, moderated the relationship between alcohol use and driver behavior. The results indicated that as alcohol use increases, errors, lapses, or ordinary violations increase for drivers with low reward responsiveness, but do not increase for drivers with high reward responsiveness.
Conclusions: This research is important to shed light on the design of possible interventions to reduce alcohol-related traffic crashes and related injuries, and deaths. For future research, examining the moderating role of reinforcement sensitivity in the relationship between alcohol use and driver behavior in different cultures is suggested for its contribution to the theoretical literature and practical field.