Psychological reactions to the drunk driver: Associations with intervention and their success

Research on psychological factors in helping behavior has been undertaken p rimarily in laboratory settings. Although this work has been instrumental i n identifying psychological factors that influence helping, their role in n aturally occurring helping behavior, such as informal drunk-driving interve ntion, is largely unknown. College students (N = 192) completed a questionn aire that assessed 11 possible reactions to the drunk driving situation, ty pes of interventions, and their success. Over half of the students (55%, N = 10) reported having intervened to prevent someone from driving drunk. Usi ng structural modeling, we examined the effect of various emotions and affe ctive and cognitive reactions on the frequency and success of different typ es of informal drunk-driving intervention. Different reactions to the drunk driving situation influenced the number, type, and success of intervention s used.