News Release

What factors motivate people to text while driving?

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

<i>Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking</i>

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Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly online with Open Access options and in print that explores the psychological and social issues surrounding the Internet and interactive technologies, plus cybertherapy and rehabilitation. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website. view more 

Credit: ©Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers

New Rochelle, NY, February 23, 2015--Nearly a third of adult drivers text while driving, despite the increased risk of accidents, stricter laws against it, and many awareness-raising efforts. What motivates this behavior and why it is so difficult to discourage is explored in the timely article "Hand on the Wheel, Mind on the Mobile: An Analysis of Social Factors Contributing to Texting while Driving," published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website until March March 23, 2015.

Steven Seiler, Tennessee Tech University (Cookeville) examines the social factors that lead people to text while driving. He suggests that people tend to engage in "mobile multiplexing"--texting, talking, and using the Internet--while driving, which presents a variety of distractions. Texting while driving is a learned behavior, reinforced by seeing others do it, and although laws prohibit it and it impairs driver safety, "texting while driving has become a cultural artifact in the U.S." People who disregard cultural norms in general are more likely to text while driving.

"Leading the industry in 2000, Verizon Wireless was the first wireless carrier to support state legislation that prohibited mobile phone use while driving" says Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCB, BCN, Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California and Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium. "Other carriers have now followed suit, hoping their public awareness campaigns will help promote positive behavioral change."

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About the Journal

Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly online with Open Access options and in print that explores the psychological and social issues surrounding the Internet and interactive technologies, plus cybertherapy and rehabilitation. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Games for Health Journal, Telemedicine and e-Health, and Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.


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