The Effect of Emotion Induction on Situation Awareness and Driving Performance.

This study investigates the effects of pre-induced emotions on situation awareness (SA) and driving performance. Twelve male students (mean age of 23.9 ±1.8 years old) with a valid driving license participated and attended two driving simulation sessions on separate days. Participants drove a driving scenario for each session after being presented with a series of pictures to induce positive or negative emotion. Participants' SA was measured by quantitative analysis of situation awareness (QASA). Driving performance was determined in terms of the collisions' number. The result showed that emotion induction significantly affected driving performance (p =0.005). The collisions' number was higher after the induction of negative emotion than after positive emotion induction. Participants' SA level 1 was also affected by the emotion inductions (p = 0.042), where the SA level 1 after the induction of negative emotion was higher than that after the positive emotion induction. These results indicate that SA partially mediates the effect of emotion on driving performance. Our findings demonstrate the emotion induction effects on situation awareness and driving performance. The results of this study imply that an emotional state before driving is essential for transportation safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]