Travel Survey ComponentsAttitudes and Personalities

October 31, 2006

Why are we concerned about attitudes and personalities?

• The attitude of a person towards a object gives us an idea of their predisposition or likelihood of choosing a particular outcome when given a choice (ex. Negative attitude towards leisure car rides reduces the likelihood that one would go on a Sunday drive)

• The personality of a person gives insight of both their attitude of objects, and their current behaviors

What’s the point for this survey

• We want to take a look at people’s travel behavior (from the activity diary), and examine the correlation between their behavior and personalities/ attitudes towards sustainable transportation

How are we going to do that?

• Travel behavior from activity diary (Time Use or DRM 24 hour diary)

• Demographic information about person

• Attitudes and Personality information of respondent

How do we get personality information???

• Determine personality characteristics that you think are important to the subject of your study.

• Ask questions geared toward determining the respondents personality

Example 1

• From “On Altruists and Egoists in Activity Participation and Travel: who are they and do they live together?”—Goulias and Hanson

Study Question

• Is there a link to social role and patterns of altruistic behavior?

• What is the intensity of self serving behavior and intensity of altruistic behavior, and who its for?

Procedure- Person level analysis• Used CentreSim data (with whom questions)• Using 16 variables of travel behavior and latent

cluster analysis, 11 distinct patterns of travel patterns and activity are identified.

Procedure- person level analysis

• These clusters were then linked to social role of the person

• Demographic predictors were also determined. These variables include age, gender, education, employment, marital status

Results- person level analysis

• The clusters of travel behaviors existed when the analysis was expanded to the social role of the person.

• Significant travel behavior differences were found between married and unmarried persons who are full time employed

Results- person level analysis

Social role and cluster membership.

Example 2

• From “Toward a Model of Risky Driving Using Objective Measures of Driving Behavior” –Kostyniuk and Eby

Procedure• Gave instrumented vehicles out to sample of

population to drive for one week. Gathered data on driving behavior using radar sensors (pointed towards the front and sides of the vehicle, and video cameras (pointed towards the drivers face)

• Examined personality traits of sensation seeking, perception of risk, locus of control and cooperation

• Studied the correlation between the respondents score on personality questions with their “naturalistic driving data” of risky driving (i.e. following too closely, speeding, lack of seat belt use, and cell phone use

Procedure

• Used Poisson logistic regression to determine the rate of the four measured risky driving behaviors as a function of the respondent’s personality traits, age and sex

Results• Study found significant positive correlation

between:– Not Using a Safety belt- self reported risky

driving behavior, locus of control– Following too closely- sensation seeking,

self reported risky driving behavior– Exceeding the speed limit by 15mph-

cooperation/ competition, self reported frequency of risky driving, perception of risk, age

Example 3

• From “The Relationship of Vehicle Type Choice to Personality, Lifestyle, Attitudinal and Demographic Variables” –Choo and Mokhtarian

Study Question

• What are the factors that influence a consumers’ car buying behaviors?

Procedure

• People’s travel attitude, personality, lifestyle, and mobility factors were examined to determine how they affect individuals vehicle type choice

• Survey asked questions about objective and perceived mobility, attitude toward travel, lifestyle, personality, desired mobility, travel liking, and demographics

• Dominant vehicles were grouped into types (i.e. compact, midsize, truck, minivan, SUV etc.) and the above were used as explanatory variables

Procedure- personalities

• Personality attributed include – organizer (efficient, on time, like a routine), – calm (patient, less aggressive, restless, don’t

like being in charge), – adventure seeker (adventurous, variety

seeking, spontaneous, risk taker, ambitious),– sociability (like being alone, independent)

Procedure- attitudes• Attitudes included

– travel dislike (travel is boring, travel time is wasted time, the only good thing about travel is arriving at your destination)

– pro high-density development (I like living in a neighborhood where there is a lot going on, having shops and services within walking distance of my home is important, living in a multiple family unit would not give me enough privacy)

– pro environmental solutions (to improve air quality, I am willing to pay a little more for a clean fuel vehicle, we need more public transportation even if taxes have to pay for it, we should raise the price of gasoline to reduce congestion and air pollution)

– travel stress (similar to travel dislike but focuses on particular sources of anxiety… I worry about my safety when I travel, traveling makes me nervous, I tend to get sick when I travel)

– commute benefit (my commute is a real hassle, my commute trip is a useful transition between home and work, I use my commute time productively)

Results

• Stronger pro density attitude= more likely to drive small or compact vehicles

• Workaholics and those who don’t enjoy personal travel= less likely to drive small vehicles

• Those who perceive they have a lot of long distance travel= less likely to own compact vehicles

• Those who have stronger travel dislike, pro high-density attitudes, tend to be status seekers, or are not generally frustrated= more likely to drive luxery cars

Example 4• From “Associations of Personality

Characteristics with Transport Behavior ad Residence Location Decisions” –Prevedouros

Study Question

• This study investigated the “potential associations between personality and individual travel behavior characteristics”

• Three dimensions of personality were examined: social introversion/extroversion, affinity for suburban living, and affinity for material possessions

After the data collection…• Factor analysis was used to group the

statements into factors and determine appropriate weights

Procedure

•Used the 17 attitudinal statements to get 3 personality factors

•The respondents were then clustered into personality types (different combinations of the factors)

Results

The resulting clusters of personality types were then used to look at peoples residence locations, auto ownership and travel habits (number of trips taken, etc).

ResultsThe analysis found that

• Socially extroverted people tend to make more trips, more nonwork trips and travel longer distances by car for nonwork trips.

• Materialistic people tend to spend a larger portion of their income on cars.

• People who have an affinity for suburban living tend to reside in outerring, low density suburbs.

Personality Tests

• Online resources to help phrase questions– http://similarminds.com/personality_tests.html 

– http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

– http://www.personalitypathways.com/MBTI_intro.html

Personality Questions

• I My fate was sealed at birth. -Locus of Control• Many times I feel that I have little influence over

the things that happen to me.- Locus of Control• As a rule, current preoccupations worry

you more than your future plans –Future minded/ planner

• You feel at ease in a crowd –Sociability• You are consistent in your habits –Varibility in

habits• A thirst for adventure is close to your heart –

adventure seeker

Attitude Questions

• Attitude toward governmental regulation of vehicle emissions – Agree or disagree- “The impact that vehicles are making on the

environment is not something to worry about”

• Attitude toward environmental altruism– Recycling is helpful for the environment– I am willing to donate 5$ when purchasing my parking permit to

enable someone else to commute by bus or train

• Attitude toward traveling… does it elicit a positive or negative attitude?– I think traveling is a waste of time– I don’t like spending time in my car

Brainstorming

• What are possible personality traits that would be correlated to a person’s travel behavior?

• What are possible attitudes that would correlate to one’s travel behavior?