Psychopathy and sadism on the road: differences between automobile and motorcycle drivers

The present study compared the differences in psychopathy and sadism scores between motorcycle and automobile drivers. Limited research has been done regarding personality traits in motorcycle drivers or the role of sadism in traffic psychology and vehicle driving preference. A non-random sample of 813 Honduran participants was included. Psychopathy was measured with the Short Dark Triad (SD3) corresponding subscale, and sadism with the Assessment of Sadistic Personality (ASP). An exploratory factor analysis suggests that psychopathy and sadism are different yet related constructs. Overall results suggest that motorcyclists score higher on psychopathy and sadism than automobile drivers. The data was further analyzed by gender, yielding similar results. Male motorcyclists scored higher on psychopathy than automobile drivers, but not on sadism. On the other hand, female motorcyclists scored higher on sadism and psychopathy than female automobile drivers. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed.