THE 5-FACTOR MODEL, CONSCIENTIOUSNESS, AND DRIVING ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT

Personality researchers and theorists are approaching consensus on the basic structure and constructs of personality. Despite the apparent c onsensus on the emergent five-factor model (Goldberg, 1992, 1993), les s is known about external correlates of separate factors. This researc h examined the relations between Conscientiousness, one dimension of t he model, and driving accident involvement. Using multiple measures in independent samples drawn from college students (N = 227) and a tempo rary employment agency (N = 250), the results generally demonstrate a significant inverse relation between Conscientiousness and driving acc ident involvement; individuals who rate themselves as more self-discip lined, responsible, reliable, and dependable are less likely to be inv olved in driving accidents than those who rate themselves lower on the se attributes. The findings are consistent with other research demonst rating the relations among Conscientiousness and other tasks and job p erformance. Suggestions for future research are discussed.