The role of the illusion of control and unrealistic optimism in drivers’ behavior

Abstract

In today’s social context, the more unpredictable and uncontrollable life events are, the more people want to be in control of them. The idea of control can be adaptive contributing to good integration and psycho-social functioning only when it does not reach an extreme level that develops the so-called illusion of control in parallel with an unrealistic optimism. Illusion of control is the tendency of people to perceive that they have more control over their own behavior or their environment than they actually have, which consequently leads to the adoption of risky behaviors. Unrealistic optimism refers to situations in which people evaluate negative future events as less likely to happen to themselves than to others, and positive events as more likely to happen to themselves than to others