The Impact of Self-Control and Texting-Related Accidents on the Relationship Between Mindfulness and Mobile Texting While Driving Behavior

The safety dangers of texting while driving are well-known in the literature, as such, it is important to understand the relationships between mindfulness, self-control, and texting while driving behavior. Prior research has conducted correlational work among these constructs; however, this study found that acting with awareness and observing were inversely related to texting while driving. This study examined the relationship between mindfulness, self-control, texting-related accidents, and texting while driving. Several findings were illustrated from this study including: 1) mindfulness (awareness and observe) were inversely associated to texting while driving behavior, 2) self-control mediated the inverse relationship between mindfulness and texting while driving behavior, and 3) texting-related accidents moderated the relationship between mindfulness and texting while driving behavior. Data consisted of 608 adult drivers who completed an online questionnaire using the measures of the study. Analyses conducted included correlations, multiple regression, and moderated regression. Findings suggested that self-control showed promise as a possible mediator of the relationship between mindfulness and texting while driving. And, texting-related accidents also moderated the relationship between mindfulness and texting while driving, which informs us of the importance of studying text-related accidents. Implications are also offered to stimulate future research to better understand mindfulness, self-control, and texting while driving behavior.