What’s driving illegal mobile phone use? Psychosocial influences on drivers’ intentions to use hand-held mobile phones Louise P. Waddell, Karl K.K. Wiener ⇑ School of Psychology, Charles Sturt University, Locked Bag 588, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia article info Article history: Received 12 February 2013 Received in revised form 20 August 2013 Accepted 20 October 2013 Keywords: Mobile phone Driving Initiating behaviour Responding behaviour Theory of planned behaviour Descriptive norm abstract Australian drivers’ use of hand-held mobile phones is increasing in prevalence, despite the illegal nature of this behaviour. Research investigating the psychosocial influences on driv- ers’ intentions to use hand-held mobile phones is limited. The present research utilised the theory of planned behaviour, extended with descriptive norm, to investigate the psychoso- cial influences on drivers’ intentions to use a hand-held mobile phone. The behaviours associated with mobile phone use were categorised into initiating and responding behav- iour. Answering calls and reading text messages were categorised as responding behaviour, on the basis that these two behaviours have been associated with social pressure to respond. Making calls and sending text messages were categorised as initiating behaviour. A sample of 181 drivers from the general population, aged 18–66 years, completed an online survey. The survey assessed attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural con- trol, descriptive norm, past behaviour and intention, in relation to initiating and respond- ing behaviour. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control and descriptive norm were all significant predictors of drivers’ intentions to engage in both initiating and responding behaviour. However, driv- ers reported significantly greater intentions to engage in responding behaviour and reported engaging in responding behaviour more frequently than initiating behaviour, indicating that social pressure to respond may play an important role in drivers’ illegal use of hand-held mobile phones. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Hand-held mobile phone use while driving increases the risk of motor vehicle accidents and is illegal in Australia and many countries worldwide (Backer-Grondahl & Sagberg, 2011; Roads, 2011; Rozario, Lewis, & White, 2010). Laws regarding drivers’ hand-held mobile phone use have been instigated due to safety concerns related to cognitive and physical distrac- tions associated with the behaviour (White, Eiser, & Harris, 2004; Zhou, Rau, Zhang, & Zhuang, 2012). Australia currently has a ‘‘deterrence-based approach’’ (Walsh, White, Hyde, & Watson, 2008, p. 1893) to drivers’ hand-held mobile phone use, involving a combination of law enforcement and educational campaigns (CARRS-Q, 2011). However, legal sanctions have had little impact on the prevalence of the behaviour (Nelson, Atchley, & Little, 2009) and current campaigns do not appear to be discouraging drivers from using their mobile phones while driving. 1369-8478/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2013.10.008 ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +61 2 69334914. E-mail addresses: louise.waddell18@gmail.com (L.P. Waddell), kwiener@csu.edu.au (K.K.K. Wiener). Transportation Research Part F 22 (2014) 1–11 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Transportation Research Part F journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/trf