The relationship between emotional intelligence, visual cognitive performance, and driving behavior across different age groups

In the process of driving, visual cognitive abilities and emotional intelligence (EI) play very important roles in the perception of, and the subsequent decision about hazards and sudden events in the surrounding environment. This study explored the differences in EI, visual cognitive performance, and driving behavior across various age groups. It examined the differences in the number of collisions and eye movements in regular and sudden traffic incidents and investigated the relationship between EI, visual cognitive performance, and driving behavior. A total of 52 participants were recruited and divided into three groups: a younger group, a middle-aged group, and an older group. All participants were required to respond to both regular and sudden events in simulated driving sessions, during which data on the number of collisions and eye movements were collected. In addition, assessments for risky driving and EI were also performed. The results indicated that young drivers exhibited considerably higher scores in the management of others' emotions than those of middle-aged and older drivers, whereas older drivers demonstrated less frequent risky driving and distracted driving behavior. In terms of eye movement performance, young drivers rapidly noticed traffic incidents and exhibited a larger number of eye movements and longer fixation duration during regular traffic incidents compared with the other age groups. In addition, risky driving and the number of collisions in different traffic event types were strongly correlated with age, distracted driving, EI, and visual cognitive performance. This study contributes to understanding the effects of age, EI and visual cognitive performance on risky driving, as well as the relationship among risking driving and eye movements characteristics. This study can serve as a reference for developing preventive measures against risky driving behavior and traffic accidents, based on the differences in EI, visual cognitive performance, and eye movement characteristics.